Ancient Egypt, Old Kingdom, 3rd to 6th Dynasty, ca. 2686 to 2181 BCE. A hand-carved banded alabaster bowl with a thick circular base, gradually-expanding walls, a rounded rim, and a shallow basin with a recessed central cavity. Scattered areas around the rim are lightly charred, seemingly from being placed near or into a fire, though much of the interior and exterior surfaces are uncharred. When held close to a bright light, the intricate darker banding is illuminated against the glowing stone. Bowls like this example were typically filled with offerings and left at an altar as a gift to the gods, or they were placed inside tombs as offerings to aid the deceased in their journey through the afterlife. Size: 6.875" W x 2.125" H (17.5 cm x 5.4 cm).

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; however, 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 provide for the dead during their time in the underworld.

Provenance: ex-private Los Angeles, California, USA collection

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#139722

Small losses and char marks to areas of rim, with light encrustations and abrasions across most surfaces, and minor darkening to natural stone color. Nice earthen deposits and light root marks throughout. Old inventory numbers written in black ink and graphite beneath base.