This squat, ovoid vessel has a rounded bottom, two pierced lug handles, and a narrow mouth with a flat rim. The brown painted spiral decoration and the small Z-shaped marks on the body of the vessel imitate the patterning of expensive stones, especially porphyry and breccia. Because many vessels of this form are made of stone, in essence this is a budget version of a much more expensive vessel that was made in response to consumer demand from the lesser elite. Indeed, the little zigzags on the rim and the four zigzag lines on the handles may represent the gold foil that covers those areas on some stone versions of these jars.^[1] These “knockoffs” are a fascinating reminder of the power of consumerism thousands of years ago.1

The force of consumer demand in the ancient world also accounts for the astounding longevity of this style of vessel that was made by the hundreds, if not thousands, over the course of five hundred years. The uniformity of their shape and decoration suggests that they were made in the ateliers of specialized craftsmen who passed their trade down through the generations, rather than in household workshops.2

Although the vessel is made of clay, the type—marl, a clay that was sourced from the mountains at considerable distance from the Nile—differentiates it from vessels made of easily obtained Nile silt. Not only was marl labor-intensive to extract and transport (by donkeys that had to be marshaled for the task) but this type of clay had to be fired at a higher temperature than did Nile silt, and thus required more fuel and time to produce. The resulting containers were less porous than those made of Nile silt, making them more effective for storage.^[2] Marl was used increasingly beginning in the Naqada II Period. It is most closely associated with buff-colored vessels with boats and other emblems drawn in terra-cotta pigment, which, like vessels decorated with spirals, were made over a span of about five hundred years. These vessels evidently had an intrinsic value beyond their function as containers, for some empty examples were deposited in tombs.3

The specialization of artisans, indicated by an increased uniformity of shapes and styles of pottery and stone vessels, began as early as the Badarian Period (about 4400–4000 BCE).^[3] The hard stone vessels and palettes produced in that time, and the effort it took to obtain the materials and work them, make it very unlikely that they were the products of household-based craftsmen.4

Pots, like this example, were formed by hand, either pinched, coiled, pressed over a hump, or made with a paddle and anvil. During Naqada III (about 3100 BCE), a slow rotary device was introduced, probably either a piece of leather that could be rotated or a low platform that could be turned by hand.^[4] The potter’s wheel was not introduced until mid–Dynasty 5 (about 2445 BCE), but even then it was a slow, hand-turned device. The kick wheel was not introduced until about 500 BCE.^[5]5

By the second half of Dynasty 1, pottery of Nile silt was produced on an industrial scale in response to the introduction of large-scale breweries that required innumerable cheap, quickly made jars. Even in this period, the elite were ordering expensive stone imitations of the clay beer jars.^[6] 6

These pots indicate growing social stratification. During the Predynastic Period one can see different size tombs, often smaller ones grouped around a larger one, the latter presumably belonging to the local leader or chief. The number and quality of the grave goods in the tombs also suggest different levels of social status.7

The Jar’s Modern History

This vessel was purchased by Charles L. Hutchinson and Martin A. Ryerson in spring 1892, likely from the dealer Mohammed Mohassab in Luxor.^[7] Its provenance is not known; however, this style of pottery is from southern (Upper) Egypt. At the time that it was acquired, nothing was known of the Predynastic Period. When the archaeologist W. M. Flinders Petrie first excavated the Predynastic cemetery at Naqada in 1895–96, the material was so unfamiliar to him (and others) that he assigned it to the First Intermediate Period.^[8] It was only in 1896 that he designated it “Predynastic,” and an entirely new chapter of Egyptian history began to be written.8

Provenance

The Art Institute of Chicago, acquired in Egypt, 1892.9

Publication History

Thomas George Allen, A Handbook of the Egyptian Collection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1923), 75, 77.10