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Introduction
ResearchontheassemblageoffaiencefindsfromthesiteofTellAtrib,excavatedbetween1985
and1995byaPolisharchaeologicalmissionfromthePolishCentreofMediterraneanArchaeology,
UniversityofWarsaw(PCMAUW),wasundertakenwiththeobjectiveofcontributingasolid
datingbasetoexistingstudiesoffaienceobjects,bothvesselsandsmallstatuary,whichare
based,forthemostpart,onstylisticgrounds.Thepresentcataloguecontains332artifacts
frombothcategories,coveringmostofthefaiencefindsthatwererecordedfromtheexcavations.
Itshouldbekeptinmind,however,thatfaiencefromthissitedoesnotpreservewellonthewhole
andcrumblesanddisintegrateseasilyuponbeinguncovered.Hencethefragmentarystateofmanyof
thefinds,whichhasmadethetaskofidentifyingformsandinterpretingtheirdecorationmorethan
difcult.Moreover,fieldregistersdidnotincludeshapelesslumpsoffaience,whichwerefairlycommon
intheexcavation.Consequently,cautionshouldbeexercisedwithregardtothestatisticspresentedin
thisstudyastheysimplycannotreflecttheactualnumberoffinds.
Theimportanceofthissetliesinthewellstratifiedcontextsinwhichthefaienceobjectswere
found.Hencetheauthor’sconcentrationonpresentingadetaileddiscussionofthestratigraphyofthe
excavationsinTellAtribinthecontextofthefaiencefinds.Athoroughanalysisofthestratigraphic
contextofthefinds,aswellasofthenatureofthefindsthemselves,hasledtheauthortopropose
thepresenceoffaience-producingworkshopsinthepartofancientAthribisexcavatedbythePolish
mission.Hisremarksaresupportedbytheresultsofalimitedarcheometricstudyoffaiencesamples.
Thebookwouldnothavebeenwrittenwithoutthesupport,generosityandguidanceofProf.Karol
Myśliwiec.SpecialthanksgotoProf.HannaSzymańskaforhermanyinvaluableremarksandsuggestions,
aswellastoDr.PaulT.Nicholsonforhispenetratingreviewandconstructivecriticismofthemanuscript.
Manyofmycolleagueshavecontributedtheirremarksatvariousstagesofmyresearch;Iwould
liketomentionespeciallyDr.Marie-DominiqueNenna,Dr.MervatSeifEl-Din,Dr.JerzyTrzciński,
Prof.EwaLaskowska-Kusztal,Prof.BarbaraLichocka,Prof.AdamŁukaszewicz,AnnaPołudnikiewicz,
Dr.TeodozjaI.RzeuskaandMałgorzataRadomska.
IwouldalsoliketothanktheDirectorofthePCMAUW,Prof.PiotrBielińskiandtheheadofthe
PCMAResearchCenterinCairo,Dr.ZbigniewSzafrańskifortheirgenerosityandassistanceduringmy
stayattheCentreinCairoandmyworkonthevolumeoffindsfromtheCentre’sexcavationsinTellAtrib.
Mr.PiotrMieliwodzkikindlysharedwithmehisextensivedocumentationofthefaienceobjectspresented
inthisbook.Ialsogreatlyappreciatetheheartandefortputintotheeditingofthefinalshapeofthis
publication,bothtextandillustrations,bytheentireeditorialstafofthePolishCentreofMediterranean
ArchaeologyandespeciallyIwonaZych.
MythanksgototheauthoritiesoftheEgyptianSupremeCouncilofAuthoritiesandinparticular
Mrs.SomayaAbuSenna,theSCAinspectorcooperatingwiththePolish-EgyptianArchaeologicalmission
inTellAtrib.
Lastbutnotleast,IamdeeplyindebtedtoMrs.TeresaŻurkowskaforhergeneroussupportthat
madethepreparationofmydissertationforpublicationpossible.
PAMMonographSeries5
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