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Cylindrical Vessel or Stand for Offering Table

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
This object may have been a container but was more probably used as a stand for a disk-shaped stone offering table. Egyptian alabaster, a form of calcite, is related to limestone. Egyptians appreciated the beauty of alabaster, but they rarely used it for sculpture because of its color variations.
MEDIUM Egyptian alabaster (calcite)
  • Place Excavated: Kom el-Ahmar, Egypt
  • DATES ca. 2675-2170 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 3 (?)
    PERIOD Old Kingdom
    DIMENSIONS 4 3/4 x Diam. 5 3/4 in. (12.1 x 14.6 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 07.447.28
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    PROVENANCE Kom-el-Ahmar, Egypt, reportedly in the brick fillings of a shaft in a mastaba of the Ancient Empire, 3rd Dynasty; 1907, excavated by Henri de Morgan of Francescas, France and New York, NY for the Brooklyn Museum.
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    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Stand of an offering table, very slightly tapering, or cylindrical vase used as such. Deeply hollowed, with coverging boring. Top (base) and ring-base (rim) perfectly flat. Sides straight, extremely slightly narrowing to base (rim). Condition: Rather badly weathered.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor
    CAPTION Cylindrical Vessel or Stand for Offering Table, ca. 2675-2170 B.C.E. Egyptian alabaster (calcite), 4 3/4 x Diam. 5 3/4 in. (12.1 x 14.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 07.447.28. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.07.447.28_erg2.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, CUR.07.447.28_erg2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 10/16/2007
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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