Milk Vase
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Early Dynasty 18 potters produced vessels with applied clay in the shape of a woman's head, arms, and breasts.
The Ebers Medical Papyrus, a list of remedies and prescriptions composed in the first years of the dynasty, describes the curative powers of breast milk from a woman who has given birth to a male child. According to the papyrus, a person in pain should store this milk in a jar until cream appears and then apply this cream to "all the sick places." A "milk vase" such as the example here may have contained this magic liquid.
Caption
Milk Vase, ca. 1539–1458 B.C.E.. Clay, pigment, 13 11/16 height × 6 in. diam. (34.8 × 15.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 14.642. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 14.642_PS20.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Title
Milk Vase
Date
ca. 1539–1458 B.C.E.
Dynasty
Dynasty 18
Period
New Kingdom
Geography
Place excavated: Sawama, Egypt
Medium
Clay, pigment
Classification
Dimensions
13 11/16 height × 6 in. diam. (34.8 × 15.2 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund
Accession Number
14.642
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
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