Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · vessel

Ritual Vase

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Object Label: Special vessels were used to hold ritually purified water. Called hes-vases (from the Egyptian word meaning “favored”), these containers were frequently left as tomb offerings so the deceased could drink the water and thus maintain a pure state throughout eternity. The potter who made this example applied a thin slip to imitate banded alabaster. Caption: Ritual Vase, ca. 1938–1700 B.C.E.. Clay, 10 11/16 x 2 3/4 in. (27.2 x 7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.318E. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06

Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A slender, tall alabaster vase displayed in a museum.

The artifact is a tall, slender vase made from alabaster. It features a wide, flaring rim and a narrow, rounded base. The surface is smooth with a natural, slightly mottled appearance typical of alabaster. The vase is mounted on a display stand within a museum setting.

decorative unknown excellent
Materials alabaster

Connections

Found at Egypt
Materials Alabaster

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 37.318E tier-2
  • BKM-Object 4015 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.