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Jar with Tubular Handles

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Pre-Dynastic, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
Masterpieces of Stone Carving

During the Predynastic Period, Egyptians mastered the working of even the hardest stone.


They especially favored attractively colored stones, like the porphyry, breccia, and obsidian shown here. To create the mace head (war club) and jar in this case, an artisan laboriously ground and polished the stones with increasingly fine abrasives. A method called flaking—carefully applying pressure with another stone—produced the serrated obsidian object.
MEDIUM Breccia
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES ca. 3500–3100 B.C.E.
    PERIOD Predynastic Period, Naqada II to Naqada III Period
    DIMENSIONS 5 1/2 x greatest diam. 7 5/16 in. (14 x 18.5 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 35.1314
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented; by 1935, acquired by Kirkor Minassian, New York, NY; 1935, purchased from Kirkor Minassian by the Brooklyn Museum.
    Provenance FAQ
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Pre-Dynastic, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Jar with Tubular Handles, ca. 3500–3100 B.C.E. Breccia, 5 1/2 x greatest diam. 7 5/16 in. (14 x 18.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 35.1314. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 35.1314_view1_PS6.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 35.1314_view1_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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