© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Alabastron

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodPtolemaic Period

Date305-30 BCE

MediumGypsum (alabaster)

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions8 11/16 x 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 in., 1575 g (22 x 4.8 x 4.8 cm, 3 lb. 7 9/16 oz.)

Object number2018.010.072

Label TextThe ancient Egyptians placed great importance on smelling good. Unguents and perfumed oils played a role in their daily and spiritual life. Resins and flora macerated and steeped in wine, animal fat, or vegetable oil were rubbed onto the skin. Homes were censed with kyphi (myrrh, juniper berries, incense, cypress, and camphor wood mixed with resin and aromatics) to purify the air. Perfumes were worn to mask bad odors.

Unguents and perfumes were stored in jars. Vessels with slightly tapered bodies closely resemble the bas-jar hieroglyph used in the ancient Egyptian words for unguent and ointment. Upon death, these items were placed in small wooden caskets and buried with the dead for their eternal use.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesMelinda K. Hartwig, ed. Life and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 5.

ProvenancePurchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Hotel des Ventes, Marseille, France, April 24, 1975, lot 45. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

Status

Not on view

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