Acknowledgements
p. 4-5
Texte intégral
1This manual is based on the observation that to train Arabic-mother tongue ceramic specialists the ability to read books in English, French or German is essential. The language barrier can thus prove to be an obstacle to students interested in ceramic studies and can even curb vocations whilst the lack of specialists is felt worldwide.
2In view of this observation, this manual has been prepared primarily for Arabic-speaking undergraduate students thus giving them access to valuable information in their native language. They will discover the rudiments of a discipline in constant progress, regularly enriched with new methods and techniques enabling each and all of us to enhance our knowledge of all daily life aspects of ancient societies. We have, nonetheless, maintained the original English texts to address a wider audience.
3A bilingual publication of a book requires concision; we therefore wished to display the voluntarily synthetic nature of the contributions in its title. The aim of the present is not to reproduce the classics of the discipline, from Ceramics for the Archaeologist by A. Shepard (1956) to the latest work of V. Roux, Ceramics and Society (2019), via Pottery in Archaeology by C. Orton, P. Tyers, A. Vince (1993) or The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Ceramic Analysis edited by A.M.W. Hunt (2017), which references remain essential and are mentioned throughout the text, but to encourage readers to take an interest in them in order to perfect their knowledge and sharpen their curiosity by using case studies drawn from work in progress in the Nile valley or in the Near East, to enable them to discover what the examination of ancient sherds actually leads to.
4Thanks to close collaboration between researchers from various backgrounds substantial multidisciplinary experience gives substance to the text enriching it with fieldwork and ceramic material that the ceramic specialists encountered. This “practice” of the ceramic material is the primary thread throughout the manual, from the collection on site to the publication of the data.
5The different chapters are set out to accompany the reader throughout his or her study. The first chapter thus describes the steps prior to any study, even preceding the fieldwork. The second chapter presents different ceramic processing methods used in the field. The third details the documentary work undertaken once the sorting of the assemblages has been completed. The fourth underlines the role of computers in the organisation and the illustration of the data collected in the field. The fifth illustrates the main issues addressed by the examination of the ceramic material and, finally, the last highlights the work carried out within the various institutional partners of this book.
6It is important to remember that all experience is collective. The Section française de la direction des Antiquités du Soudan (Sfdas) initiated the present manual and ensured its scientific publication, supported, both scientifically and financially, by the Institut français d’archéologie orientale (Ifao), the Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo) and the Centre français de recherche de la péninsule Arabique (Cefrepa). We address our thanks to Marc Maillot, Laurent Coulon, Michel Mouton and Abbès Zouache, respectively the directors of these institutions, and to three members, namely Sylvie Marchand, Dominique Pieri and Valentina Vezzoli, for their precious role in the very conception of the work. Special thanks to Saskia Buechner-Matthews, the silent architect and the most constant supporter of this work. Secondly, the majority of the sections composing the book were written by a number of contributors working in different geographical areas and these fruitful acquaintances gave birth to a collective reflection on the relevance of the content in order to supply the most useful information possible in the imposed format. I would like to express how happy and honoured I am for all your contributions to this manual. The English texts were proofread and corrected under the guidance of Sandra Jaeggi whose responsiveness and professionalism proved to be a considerable asset. Mustafa Ahmad, the true craftsman of this manual, artistically translated all the texts into Arabic and brought the book to life. These translations were reviewed by Wafa Sharif Dawod Hussein whose comments enabled the necessary adaptations to be made rendering the texts accessible to the diverse readers from the Arab world. Finally, Soleb editions and particularly Olivier Cabon have, in addition to their remarkable editorial work, made a very rare gesture for which I warmly thank them, rendering free distribution of both the paper volumes and their digital counterpart possible.
7My deepest thanks to all those who made the present manual possible.
[R.D.]
***
8Archaeological studies focusing on ancient pottery are considered one of the most important branches of archaeology in the modern era, as they shed light on many research aspects relating to the history of the occupation of a site or region, ancient manufacturing techniques and their development throughout history, cultural styles and traditions and their correlation with the ethnicities and peoples who inhabited an area or migrated to or from other areas, as well as many other cultural aspects.
9The Arab Library lacks studies relating to the methods of studying archaeological pottery from a scientific and methodological point of view, especially in light of the concentration of scientific research in this field implemented abroad, and therefore the publication of such research and work methodologies in foreign languages, consequently forming a gap in the Arab Library pertaining to this field. Hence the idea of this guide was launched by Romain David, a specialist in pottery of the Nile region in Egypt and Sudan, who worked hard to bring this work to light, with the scientific and financial cooperation from several French research centres in the Arab world (Sfdas, Ifpo, Ifao, and Cefrepa). This work is the result of the efforts of several researchers specialised in pottery, who drew up summaries of the methods they practice in studying archaeological pottery in accordance with the latest scientific methods.
10I had the honour of translating this manual into Arabic, and being a pottery specialist myself, I cannot deny the pleasure I felt throughout this work, especially as I am conscious of the need of the Arab library for such specialised scientific publications in the field of methodological studies of pottery, in addition to the demand for students in Arab universities, as well as for pottery specialists. During my work on the manual, I proceeded with an accurate translation transferring the original content to the Arabic version. I tried my utmost to maintain the same spirit in the translation and to strictly respect the original text by preserving the desired meaning without changing the structure or content, taking into account the appropriate linguistic style in the structure of the Arabic language. One of the most challenging difficulties I faced was to find the appropriate scientific vocabulary in the Arabic language, especially that describing pottery in terms of shape, paste or inclusions but also other associated terms from the point of view of a ceramist. Sometimes I indicated the term in its original language (English here) along with the Arabic translation in order to avoid confusion for the reader between the meanings of the selected Arabic terms.
11To conclude, I would like to address my sincere thanks to Romain David for choosing me to translate this manual into Arabic, and to Abbès Zouache, Director of the French Centre for Research in the Arabian Peninsula (Cefrepa), for recommending me for this work. Many thanks also to all my colleagues and friends who participated in this manual.
[M.A.]
Auteurs
Researcher, Section française de la direction des Antiquités du Soudan, Khartoum, Sudan.
PhD, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin, Germany.

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