The Jebel Mokram Group Pottery: A Pan-Grave- or a Middle Nubian-Related Ceramic Tradition of Eastern Sudan?

The Jebel Mokram Group of Eastern Sudan was defined in the early 1980s based mainly on its ceramic assemblage, other material culture and settlement patterns. The definition has been revised in recent years following renewed fieldwork and C14 dates, but the relationship between the Jebel Mokram Group and Nilotic Nubian cultures remains to be fully understood. This article reviews the relationship between the Jebel Mokram Group and the Pan-Grave horizon primarily based on a comparative analysis of their ceramic assemblages. It is proposed that the Jebel Mokram Group can be regarded as part of the Atbai Ceramic Tradition and a component of the Pan- Grave horizon, while also being a component of what is here called the Middle Nubian ‘super-horizon’. It is further suggested that the Jebel Mokram Group was a node in a socio-cultural network extending across Lower Nubia and Egypt and involving large sectors of the Eastern Desert.