Alabastron with Inscription

Arts of Africa

Late Period, Dynasty 26–27 (664–404 BCE)

Egyptian

The lug handles on this jar are derived from Egyptian vessels made 3000 years earlier.

Alabaster jars had long been used as donations to Egyptian temples. The large size of this jar made it a very valuable object. Although Egyptian in design and function, the jar is inscribed with a Greek dedication to the twin gods Castor and Pollux, suggesting the vessel was dedicated in a temple in honor of those gods.

Currently Off View: Arts of Africa

Culture: Ancient Egyptian
Title: Alabastron with Inscription
Origin: Egypt
Date: Made 664 BCE–404 BCE
Medium: Calcite ("Egyptian alabaster")
Inscriptions: ∆lO°KOPON “[This is the jug of the] Dioscouri”
Dimensions: 27.6 × 30.5 × 30.5 cm (10 7/8 × 12 × 12 in.)
Credit Line: Museum Purchase Fund
Reference Number: 1911.105

Art Institute of Chicago, Thirty-second Annual Report: June 1, 1910-June 1, 1911 (1911), p. 64.
Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1923), p. 97.
Roberta Casagrande-Kim, ed., When the Greeks Ruled Egypt: From Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. Exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014), p. 91, cat. 21.

Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 154A, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, When the Greeks Ruled: Egypt After Alexander the Great, October 31, 2013 - July 27, 2014; traveled to New York City, NY, the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, October 8, 2014 - January 4, 2015.

Maurice Nahman (1868-1948), Cairo; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1911.

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