A recent petrographic study of ceramic jars from Giza imported into Egypt during the 4th Dynasty of the Pyramid Age (c. 2613–2494 BCE) identified the original production zone as the Lebanese coast generally between Beirut and Tripoli, including the region of Byblos. The jars and their contents were imported to Egypt by maritime trade expeditions conducted at the behest of the Egyptian state. This study analyses a selection of these ceramic samples using ICP-AES and -MS for comparison with published data from the region of Byblos. The results not only confirmed the underlying petrography, but together with new evidence from Lebanon suggests the vessels likely belonged to specialised workshop production in the Byblos environs and were made specifically for export to Egypt. The finding sheds new light on the relationship between the Egyptian state and the polity of Byblos in the Early Bronze Age, indicating the presence of standardised local production and commodity procurement mechanisms tailored to the needs of a large trade entity. This relationship in turn delivered significant prestige and status to local elites in an environment of competitive local peer-polity interactions.

最近对金字塔时代第四王朝（公元前 2613-2494 年）从吉萨进口到埃及的陶瓷罐进行了岩相学研究，确定原始生产区是贝鲁特和的黎波里之间的黎巴嫩海岸，包括比布鲁斯地区。这些罐子及其内装物是通过应埃及国家的要求进行的海上贸易远征进口到埃及的。本研究使用 ICP-AES 和 -MS 分析了这些陶瓷样品的选择，以与来自比布鲁斯地区的已发布数据进行比较。结果不仅证实了潜在的岩相学，而且与来自黎巴嫩的新证据一起表明，这些船只可能属于比布鲁斯周边的专业车间生产，专门用于出口到埃及。这一发现揭示了青铜时代早期埃及国家与比布鲁斯政体之间的关系，表明存在标准化的当地生产和商品采购机制，以满足大型贸易实体的需求。这种关系反过来又在竞争激烈的地方政治互动环境中为地方精英带来了显着的声望和地位。