This remarkable spheroid vase is in the form of a
pomegranate. Its short neck with distinctive, ribbed,
everted petals imitates the natural form of the top of
this fruit. The neck of the vessel is decorated with a
series of repeated motifs in the form of a central
lotus bud, flanked on each side by single lotus
blossoms. These are oriented toward the bottom of the
vessel as if forming part of a garland placed around
the neck of the vase.
The pomegranate was first introduced into Egypt during
the later Bronze Age from the Levant as a result of
the military campaigns of such warrior pharaohs as
Tuthmosis III. Shortly thereafter Egyptian craftsmen
of Dynasty XVIII were creating vases in the shape of
pomegranates in silver, faience, glass, ivory and
other deluxe materials. These, however, differ in
their design from our golden pomegranate.
In the Levant, and particularly in Israel, the
pomegranate (rimmon in Hebrew) was regarded as one of
the seven species of the land of Israel. It served as
a Biblical symbol of beauty, love and marriage,
fertility and multiplicity and life after death. It
should come as no surprise, therefore, that the shape
of our pomegranate is more in keeping with that of
pomegranates created in Canaan. The date of the piece
can be established stylistically, especially through
perusal of the repeated lotus pattern. Although this
motif was quite popular in ancient Egyptian jewellery
throughout the New Kingdom, it enjoyed unprecedented
popularity in the Third Intermediate Period: it was at
this time that relationships between Egypt and Israel
reached their peak. These interrelationships were
often hostile, as documented in the scenes and
inscriptions of the Bubastite Portal within the Karnak
temples where Pharaoh Sheshonq I (about 948-927 BC)
recorded his two campaigns into the Levant that
penetrated as far north as Megiddo. Possibly as a
conciliatory gesture (or in a lacuna of comparative
peace), 1 Kings 9:16 reports that King Solomon married
a daughter of pharaoh. The reign of Solomon is
traditionally considered to be contemporary with part
of Egypts Third Intermediate Period. It is doubtless
on account of such associations between Egypt and
Canaan that this pomegranate is decorated with an
Egyptian lotus motif.
Our pomegranate finds its closest parallels in a
golden pomegranate described as a cult object now in
the collections of the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem
(inventory: 3435). The two examples are stylistically
similar and may have shared similar functions.
References:
Carol Andrews, Ancient Egyptian Jewelry (London 1990),
pages 118-119 and 138-139, for two jewels from the
burial of the Egyptian pharaoh Sheshonq II which
employ this motif as a decorative elements.
Aidan Dodson, Monarchs of the Nile (Cairo 2000),
159-164, for a discussion of this pharaoh and his
campaigns.
I.E.S. Edwards, Tutankhamun: His Tomb and its
Treasures (New York 1975), for a silver pomegranate
from this tomb.
W. Seipel [editor], Land der Bibel. Jerusalem und die
Königsstädte des Alten Oriens. Schätze aus dem Bible
Lands Museum Jerusalem. Katalog (Vienna 1997), page
135, no. 194, for the golden pomegranate which served
as a cult object.
A.Weise and A. Brodeck [editors], Tutankhamun. The
Golden Beyond. Tomb Treasures from the Valley of the
Kings (Basel 2004), pages 160-161, catalogue 16B, a
faience pomegranate from the tomb of Amenophis II.
J. G. Westenholz, Sacred Bounty, Sacred Land. The
Seven Species of the Land of Israel (Jerusalem 1998),
pages 33-37, for the pomegranate in Hebrew religion
and tradition.
