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Small offering dish/lid

Nubian
Napatan Period, reign of Karkamani (?)
519–510 B.C.
Findspot: Nubia (Sudan), Nuri, Pyramid 30 (a queen?), NW foundation deposit

Medium/Technique Pottery
Dimensions Overall: 4.4 x 11.4 cm (1 3/4 x 4 1/2 in.)
Credit Line Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition
Accession Number20.4179
NOT ON VIEW

DescriptionCommon in grave, tomb, and temple contexts, small vessels such as this example are often called "offering bowls/dishes" or, because of their small size, "model bowls." 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. Some were also employed as lids for jars with mouths of appropriate diameter. Such dishes/lids are most often made of medium to coarse grades of clay. Knife-cut or cord-cut bases are common, though rounded bases occur as well. Frequent irregularities or asymmetry in shaping reflect fast work and mass production.
ProvenanceFrom Nuri, Pyramid 30 (tomb of a queen?), NW foundation deposit. 1917-1918: 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: August 15, 2006)