Milk Vase

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.