like Type A cones, and the other has a narrower body and longer peg-like base like Type
B cones.
Although they are very similar, there are a couple of morphological differences.
One difference is that both types from Dendera seem to have slightly out-curving lips,
while such features are lacking on the cones from Abydos. Second, the tip of the long-
based vessel from Dendera is more pointed, unlike the Type B cones from Abydos, but
more like the conical vessels from Medamud and Tod. In addition, no matching clay
stoppers have been recorded in association with these cones.
[Slide 25] The third group of conical vessels that look like the offering cones
from North Abydos are the so-called “meat jars” from late 12
th
and early 13
th
Dynasty
phases of several Lower Egyptian sites, including el-Lisht
, Saqqara
. The contexts of the provenance vary from refuse of royal funerary temples
(el-Lisht and Dahshur) to grave goods of non-royal tombs (Saqqara). Like the offering
cones from North Abydos, these conical containers are modeled by hand, but always out
of Nile C
rather than Nile B2 fabric. Their general shapes are similar to those of the
offering cones from Abydos. The rim is simple, straight and upright, and the base is long
and peg-like like Type B cones from North Abydos. The proportion of the rim diameter
and height (vessel index) is also similar.
These conical vessels from the Memphite region, however, are generally much
larger than the offering cones from Abydos. Even the smallest of this type is about 50%
larger than the largest one at Abydos, while the largest one from Saqqara is about 2.5
34
Di. Arnold, The Pyramid of Senwosret I, New York, 1988, fig. 73 (52-55, 62).
35
Do. Arnold, “Keramikbearbeitung in Dahschur 1976-1981,” MDAIK 38 (1982), pp. 53-54, fig. 7 (14, 15),
10 (13), pl. 9 (c, d); Do. Arnold and Bourriau, fig. 11.
36
S. Yoshimura, N. Kawai, and H. Kashiwagi, “A Sacred Hillside of Northwest Saqqara: A Preliminary
Report on the Excavations 2001-2003,” MDAIK 61 (2005): fig. 19 (12-14), 24 (11).
37
J. Bourriau and S. Quirke, “The late Middle Kingdom ceramic repertoire in words and objects,” Lahun
Studies, p. 71, fig. 5 (3).
38
Di. Arnold, fig. 7; Bourriau and Quirke, p. 71.
10
Convention