Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery from Gurob in the Manchester Museum collection: a test of trade network theories for the New Kingdom Fayum

Valentina Gasperini Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 6.2 (June 2014), 10-22

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of Late Bronze Age Mycenaean and Cypriot pottery unearthed in Gurob (Fayum, Egypt) during the archaeological campaigns held at the site between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and currently housed in the Manchester Museum. This study investigates the physical characteristics of the materials and the discovery contexts, then further discusses the association between traded pottery and indigenous Egyptian artefacts. This is the first of a series of papers that analyses imported New Kingdom pottery in the eastern Fayum with the further intention of exploring the area’s apparent role as a hub for commerce during the Late Bronze Age. In particular, the function of the royal city of Gurob as guarantor and coordinator of the network within Egypt moving imported pottery between the beginning of the 18th Dynasty and the Ramesside Period (ca. 1548 – 1086 BC).