Alabaster unguent jar, Dyn. 18

Alabaster unguent jar, Dyn. 18
Period:Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
Dating:1570 BC–1300 BC
Origin:Egypt,
Material:Stone (undetermined)
Physical:6.7cm. (2.6 in.) - 181 g. (6.4 oz.)
Catalog:STO.SS.00135

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Links to others from Dynasty 18

Alabaster unguent vase, Dyn. 18
Amenhotep III as Amun-Min, Dyn 18
Amulet of Bes, Dyn. 18
Amulet of god Thoth as a Baboon, Dyn. 18
Anthropomorphic mirror handle, Dyn. 18
Basalt shawabti of a king, early Dyn. 18
Blue faience ring, udjat eye, Dyn. 18
Blue faience shawabti, Dyn.18
Bronze Horus sarcophagus, Dyn.18
Bronze insigna-pendant of Atum, Dyn. 18
Bronze of a king as Osiris, Dyn. 18
Bronze of Sakhmet seated, early Dyn. 18
Bronze statuette of Apis, Dyn. 18
Cartonnage of Princess Baket, Dyn. 18
Cartouche ring of Akhenaten, Dyn. 18
Carved face from a sarcophagus, Dyn. 18
Carved face from a sarcophagus, N.K.
Copper inlay for a box, Dyn. 18
Divine scarab, reign of Thutmose IV
Enameled feathers of Amun, Dyn. 18
Extensible bronze bracelet, Dyn. 18
Faience ear ornament, Dyn. 18
Foundation marker from Amenhotep III
Funerary box (panel), Dyn. 18-33
Gilded ib, heart amulet, Dyn.18
Gilded mkrt, snake amulet, Dyn. 18
Gilded ‘tit’ (girdle of Isis) amulet, Dyn. 18
Granite cartouche of Akhenaten, Dyn. 18
Head, realistic portrait in stone, Dyn 18
Horus-the-Child as a ruling king, Dyn. 18
Ibis-headed Thoth with human body, Dyn.18
King Amenhotep II (?) as Amun-Re, Dyn. 18
King Horemheb as a sphinx, Dyn. 18
King Horemheb as Amun-Re, Dyn. 18
King wearing the royal headdress, Dyn. 18
Limestone shawabti, early Dyn. 18
Lotus necklace terminal, Egypt, Dyn. 18
Monumental bronze feather, Dyn. 18
Mummy mask of a young woman, Dyn. 18
Nekhbet, vulture-goddess of Nekheb
New Year’s flask for sacred water, Dyn.18
Osiris, King of the Afterlife, Dyn. 18
Osiris of an unknown king, Dyn. 18 (?)
Osiris-Neper, god of agriculture, Dyn. 18
Pair of udjat eyes of Horus, Dyn. 18
Palm leaf amulet, Dyn. 18-19
Palm leaf amulet, Dyn. 18-19
Pillar capital, Hathor, Dyn. 18
Polychrome glass cup, Dyn 18
Queen as Goddess Mut, Dyn.18
Queen Hatshepsut as Goddess Mut, Dyn. 18
Queen Hatshepsut as Hathor, Dyn. 18
Queen Isis as Isis nursing Thutmose III
Royal situla, sacred water vessel, Dyn.18
Royal wooden sarcophagus lid, Dyn. 18
Sakhmet amulet pendant, Dyn. 18
Sarcophagus of a king, Dyn. 18
Sarcophagus of a queen, Dyn. 18
Scarab “begets the existence of Amun”
Scarab of protection, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab of Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Scarab with Amun-Re, solar discs, Dyn. 18
Scarab with ‘Ba’, Dyn. 18
Scarab with “faith in Justice,” Dyn. 18
Scarab with Goddess Hathor
Scarab with Horus of the Horizon, Dyn. 18
Scarab with ‘nsw-bity’, Dyn. 18
Scarab with ‘sa’ singing birds, Dyn. 18
Shawabti of Amen, vizier of Amenhotep III
Shawabti of Queen Mutemwia. Dyn.18
Signet-ring of Tutankhamun, Dyn. 18
Statuette of a privileged man, Dyn. 18
Stone bust of a scribe, Dyn. 18
Stone shawabti of a Nubian viceroy, Dyn. 18
Stone statue of King Thutmose III, Dyn. 18
Two cobras from the queen’s crown
Udjat eye amulet-pendant, Dyn. 18
Uninscribed wooden shawabti, Dyn. 18
Uraeus from a royal crown, Dyn. 18
Wood statue of King Smenkhkare, Dyn. 18
Wooden sarcophagus lid, Dyn. 18
Wooden sarcophagus lid, Dyn.18
Wooden sarcophagus lid, Dyn. 18

Links to others of type Jar

Alabaster unguent vase, Dyn. 18
Alabaster unguent vase, Old Kingdom
Iridescent glass jar, Roman, 1-100 AD ?
Massive alabaster libation vessel, 3000 BC
Rod-formed glass jar, Syria, 300-500 AD
  This unguent jar, perhaps once the cherished possession of a woman who used it daily thirty five hundred years ago, was painstakingly fashioned from a block of alabaster by a craftsman who lived long before hard metal (iron) tools were available.

This jar was originally outfitted with a clever swiveling cover. The protrusion visible on the right (it looks like a spout, but it is not) housed a small tenon from which the flat cover could pivot. The depression visible on the left held a large button (presumably made of ivory or precious wood) which served to catch a loop of string attached to the cover. It thus may have been possible to unlatch, open, use, and close back this jar with one hand, while holding an applicator stick in the other hand.

A wooden jar with the same cover system is now kept at the Louvre under # E.21556 (originally at Musée Guimet under No. 4057). Although its lid and closure button are also missing and part of the body is lost, the tenon is still visible, and a broken fragment of the button is left in the side wall. The exact provenance is unknown, but it was dated back to the New Kingdom (Vandier d’Abbadie 1972:48).

The base is flat. The body flares out from the base, then raises vertically, decorated with a single horizontal line that meets the bottom of the tenon housing.


Bibliography (for this item)

Arnold, Dorothea (editor)
1999 When the Pyramids Were Built: Egyptian Art of the Old Kingdom. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.

Vandier d’Abbadie, J.
1972 Catalogue des objets de toilette égyptiens. Editions des Musées Nationaux, Paris, France. (48)






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