Created from a single block of exquisite banded
alabaster with paper-thin, translucent walls, our
lentoid-shaped vessel belongs to a classification
of flasks which were extremely popular during
the course of the New Kingdom. Inscribed
examples in faience of a slightly later date
indicate that these vessels were used to collect
water from the Nile River during the initial rise of
its waters caused by the annual inundation which
occurred in late summer. That collected water
was then used in rituals celebrating the ancient
Egyptian New Year which annually coincided with
this rise of the Nile.
Excavated examples in the collections of the
Petrie Museum of Archaeology at University
College London are similar to our example in
their profile and in the design of their neck and
lip [inventory numbers 4161 and 41619]. Our
example, however, appears to be unique within
this repertoire because it is designed with straps,
created in imitation of a leather slings, which
cradle it on both sides. As such it represents one
of the finest examples of this type presently
known.
References:
Museum of Fine Arts, Egypt’s Golden Age: The
Art of Living in the New Kingdom (Boston 1982),
page 83, no. 82, for an example in pottery; and
Robert Steven Bianchi, in F. D. Friedman [editor],
Gifts of the Nile. Ancient Egyptian Faience
(Providence 1998), nos. 126-127, for later
examples in faience.
