The presence of Late Cypriot imports: Base Ring I and II, White Slip II, White Shaved Ware as well as Mycenaean III A/B together at Tell el-Borg points to a date of late 18th and 19th Dynasties. Similar clusters of these same types of vessels are common on Palestinian excavations during the same period (LB III A and B). There was, however, a difference in the makeup of the ceramic clusters between the Nile Valley and Palestine. Base Ring I and II juglets dominate the Egyptian repertoire with more than double the examples from Palestine. In contrast White Slip II was far more popular in Palestine than in Egypt. In both of the above cases, the proportions of Base Ring Juglets and White Slip II in the North Sinai mirrored that of Palestine. The fact that imported wares found at this Egyptian Sinai site should be more closely comparable to Palestinian excavated materials of the same period than to Nilotic sites is interesting. This raises questions about trade and settlement patterns which invite more investigation.
    The Egyptian vessel forms presented here are common New Kingdom types with the Blue Painted ware having long been the characteristic marker of the Amarna Period. With the exception of the two incised marl ware trays (Pl. IX:4 and IX:5) and a few black-rimmed silt bowls (Pl.VIII:10 and VIII:11) which date to the early to mid 18th Dynasty the remaining assemblage fits into the ceramic repertoire of the Late 18th and 19th Dynasties. The variety and richness of imported materials discovered even in a preliminary survey such as the one discussed here suggests that Tell el-Borg may provide a wealth of information from the upcoming study of the pottery from the undisturbed loci.

Rexine Hummel  

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