Berenike and other projects
 During the 1990s I was fortunate enough to work on the Roman glass from the site of Berenike on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. This project was a joint University of Leiden and Universtiy of Delaware venture co-directed by Willeke Wendrich and Stephen Sidebotham.
The glass from the site was often well preserved and included rare pieces such as fragments from mythological bowls, painted glass and cased glass as well as numerous more utilitarian pieces. These glasses, along with other finds from the site, give a picture of a thriving and often opulent community based at a port to which came the exotic goods from the Indian Ocean trade.
 For part of the year it seems that most of the occupants of Berenike moved inland to the site of Sikkait which may have had a function rather similar to that of Simla under the British Raj, a place of retreat for families and officials during certain periods of the year. The glass from Sikkait is similarly rich, though the scale of excavations at the site has been less than for Berenike.
Reports on the glass have been published and a full report and catalogue is in preparation.
As well as work at Berenike I have been involved in other projects in Egypt. These include a season looking at industrial remains at the Roman town of Karanis in the Fayum, a project directed by Dr. Wendrich and Professor Cappers. I have also worked for Professor Mark Lehner’s Giza Mapping Project, looking at aspects of Old Kingdom (2686-2181 B.C.) faience production at the site. I have also looked at the Old Kingdom pottery from the quarry site of Hatnub for Dr. Ian Shaw. This work will be published in 2009.
Relevant Publications
IN PRESS 2009 Nicholson P.T. and Rose, P.J.
| The Pottery. In I. Shaw, Hatnub. London: Egypt Exploration Society. |
2007 Nicholson, P.T. and Price, J.
| Glass fish vessel. In S.E. Sidebotham and W. Wendrich (eds.) Berenike 1999-2000. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute, 220-224. |
2003 Nicholson, P.T. and Price, J.
| Glass from the port of Berenike, Red Sea Coast, Egypt. In D. Foy and M-D. Nenna (Eds.) Échanges et commerce du verre dans le monde antique. Montagnac: Editions Monique Mergoil, 389-394. |
2001 Nicholson, P.T.
| The Glass. In S. Sidebotham and W.Z. Wendrich, Berenike Reports 98. Leiden:CNWS, 203-209. |
2000 Nicholson, P.T.
| Roman glass from Berenike (Egypt): Some new work. In Annales du 14e Congrès de l’ Association pour l’Histoire du Verre. Lochem: AIHV, 151-55. |
1997 Nicholson, P.T.
| The Glass. In S. Sidebotham and W. Wendrich (eds.) Berenike’96. Leiden: CNWS, 279-288. |
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