The technology and craft organisation of Kushite technical ceramic production at Meroe and Hamadab, Sudan

This paper seeks to contribute to the growing knowledge of iron production in ancient Sudan by examining the technology and craft organisation involved in the production of technical ceramics, which were integral to the iron smelting process. The focus of this study are the technical ceramics including tuyères, furnace linings, and furnace bricks, recovered from various slag heaps located at the archaeological sites of the Royal City of Meroe and the Meroitic town site of Hamadab. We used macroscopic examination and thin-section petrography to identify the source of raw materials and methods used in preparing the raw materials, to characterise the level of craft specialisation, and to infer the broader socio-political developments that might have influenced how the production of technical ceramics was organised. The resulting data reveal that changes occurred within the production of technical ceramics throughout different periods of Kushite history (traditionally divided into Napatan and Meroitic) and during the post-Meroitic period, and we argue that the observed changes might have been related to the rise and fall of the Kingdom of Kush. The production of technical ceramics was marked by clear distinction in raw materials and paste preparation methods used for different types of technical ceramics, and a high degree of compositional and technological homogeneity within each type of technical ceramic during the Napatan and earlier Meroitic periods, coinciding with the time when Kush rose to and was at the height of its power. The production of technical ceramics appears to have exhibited more diversity in terms of the raw materials and paste preparation methods and lower degree of homogeneity during the later and post-Meroitic periods when the economic and political influence and power of the Kingdom of Kush is described as declining and ultimately ceasing to exist. Perhaps the most drastic change in the production of technical ceramics took place in the post-Meroitic period, which was characterised by lower level of specialisation, as well as the possibility of using a different technological approach to iron smelting.