Jar with Handles

ca. 3500-3300 B.C.E.

Each of these vessels is decorated differently. The white-ware bowl with red background and white geometric decoration is among the oldest pottery made in Upper (southern) Egypt. The red jar with a black, irregular design near the lip replaced white ware in the subsequent period. In the most recent decorative style, artists used red paint on a light background to depict boats and plants.

All three styles originated in southern Egypt and spread to northern Egypt by about 3300 B.C.E. Egyptologists believe the appearance of Upper Egyptian styles in Lower Egypt parallels the spread of central government from south to north.