Predynastic Egyptian Pottery

YourHistory AGripton2013

Predynastic Egyptian Pottery

Image courtesy of the Petrie Museum, UCL


What is Predynastic Egypt?Essentially, it is Egypt before the

time of the pyramidsIt was a collection of different

cultures and provincesOne culture would eventually

dominate, helping Egypt to unify


Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie

“The Father of Egyptology” Worked in Predynastic cemeteries

at Naqada Flinders Petrie established

sequence dating He arranged pots in a relative

chronological order (“classes”) based on the resemblances of the types. Each was assigned a number between 30 and 80. He started at 30 because he presumed that older pots would be found in the future.

System still used by archaeologists today

Image from GoogleMaps


Petrie’s Pottery ClassesWhite Cross‐lined (C)Black Top (B)Wavy Handled (W)Red Polished (P)Fancy (F)Black Incised (N)Decorated (D)Rough (R)


Petrie & MeLook carefully at the following

picturesTry to match each picture with

one of Petrie’s ‘classes’Explain why you think it is that

classTry and put them in the right

order of time/when they were made










Why is pottery important in

the Predynastic Period?


What does pottery tell us about Predynastic Egyptian Society?

Documents

Predynastic Egyptian Pottery