Wide Conical Form

Only one example of this type was discovered.    The neck, handles, and shoulder are missing.  The vessel has the same rilling as the narrow conical type of Ayla-Axum Amphora.  This amphora, however, was broader than the narrow type with a diameter approximately 7 cm. greater.No examples of this type appear to have been reported from the other Red Sea sites, although excavations on Elephantine Island on the Nile have revealed similar amphoras, underscoring the stylistic connection between the Byzantine ceramics of the Red Seaand Coptic Egypt. Gempeler (1992: 191) reports both the narrow conical amphora and the broader kind with a diameter up to 6 cm greater. These amphoras date to the heyday of the Egyptian-Nubian wine trade, which falls between the years AD 550 and 750. Amphoras of varying form but with a similar corrugated appearance are also found at other Egyptian sites of the sixth and seventh centuries (Sauneron 1972: 8, 10). It is not necessarily the case, however, that the wide conical amphora from Black Assarca originated in Egypt; indeed, the fabric appears identical to the brown fabric of the Ayla-Axum amphoras indicating a shared clay source.

If this type is a singular find in the wreck it would likely indicate that this contained

a special item or that it was a utilitarian item on the ship- perhaps a jar kept on deck for

drinking water. Its location toward an extremity of the site supports the latter suggestion

of on-deck storage, which can be observed in watercraft of the Bronze Age onwards.