Miniature/model offering jar body
New Kingdom to Meroitic Period
1550 B.C.–A.D. 320
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Gebel Barkal, Building (Temple) B 600, debris
Overall: 5 x 3.5 cm (1 15/16 x 1 3/8 in.)
Medium or Technique
Not On View
This small jar is fashioned of a light reddish clay fabric. It has a flat, shaved base and slightly convex sides. The upper body and rim are broken off and missing.
Common in grave, tomb, and temple contexts, small vessels such as this example are often called “offering vessels” or, because of their small size, “model vessels.” In ancient times they could be used for the presentation of offerings at a tomb or temple or as model offerings in and of themselves. Such vessels are most often made of medium to coarse grades of clay.
From Nubia (Sudan) Gebel Barkal, Building (Temple) B 600, debris. 1916: excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition; assigned to the MFA in the division of finds by the government of the Sudan.
(Accession Date: September 13, 2006)
Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition