2950–2573 BC
Pegmatitic hornblende diorite
Diameter: 21.1 cm (8 5/16 in.); Diameter of mouth: 8.3 cm (3 1/4 in.); Overall: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.); Diameter of mouth without rim: 8.3 cm (3 1/4 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1914.648
The stone used for this vessel, a pegmatitic hornblende diorite whose white crystals contain a faint tint of pink, indicates it must have been considered a luxury item.
A single tomb might contain hundreds of stone vessels replicating the shapes of pottery vessels used in everyday life. The most popular material for stone vessels was white or banded travertine (Egyptian alabaster), found close to the Nile, but prospectors and quarrymen often traveled far in search of the desired materials. The hard stone hornblende diorite, notable for its mottled texture, was quarried in the desert along the route to the Red Sea.
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