Egypt, Late Dynastic Period, 26th to 31st Dynasty, ca. 664 to 332 BCE. A petite carved alabaster bowl with a round but stable base, sloping walls, a shallow interior cavity, and a thin flared rim. Bands of brown, gold, and orange mineral veins are illuminated when held to a bright light. Alabaster was quarried along the length of the Nile, from Giza to just south of Luxor. Offering bowls like these were used in temples and placed in the tombs of people at all class levels. For example, Auguste Mariette, the famous French Egyptologist of the 19th century, found a cemetery for the poor in Memphis where the dead had been buried without wrappings only three feet below the ground - but each had a small alabaster bowl and some animal bones, as they had been given food and drink for the afterlife. Meanwhile, kings were buried with many vessels, often of the highest quality. These vessels were necessary to provision the dead during their time in the underworld. Size: 3.8" W x 2.125" H (9.7 cm x 5.4 cm).
Provenance: private Davis collection, Houston, Texas, USA
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#132877
Condition
Bowl repaired from several pieces with small amounts of new material to fill missing spaces, light adhesive residue along break lines, and some resurfacing. Age-commensurate surface wear, small nicks to rim, otherwise very good. Light earthen deposits throughout.