Rare Egyptian Old Kingdom Alabaster Offering Dish

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. Four flat half circles project from the sides of the rim, giving the bowl a squared-off profile. The stone of this example glows warmly in the light; deposits on it indicate that it had something with a high iron content placed near it during its time buried. Size: 6.75" W x 1.4" H (17.1 cm x 3.6 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: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-California, USA private collection, 1980s

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#142894
Condition Report: Intact, with light scratches, chips, and nicks commensurate with age. Beautiful deposits on surface.