Bowl Shaped Alabaster Lamp

Description: 

Bowl Shaped Alabaster Lamp

Egyptian (Giza), ca. 3000 BCE
Old Kingdom, Third Dynasty

carved alabaster
height 3.2 cm
length 14.5 cm
width 11.7 cm

Portland State University Middle East Studies Center
Bogue Lamp Collection, Lamp ID #77, PSU 001

 

Professor Anne Nicgorski, Willamette University, cited with permission

This lamp is considered the oldest in the collection. It is carved from yellow alabaster, has a long, open nozzle, and a low, open reservoir. Shape: Shallow bowl with flat bottom and broad flat lip; open extended spout at level of rim, squared off at termination. Decoration: None. Inscriptions: None. Condition: Mostly complete; one large chip missing out of side; traces of burning around spout; underside appears unfinished around edges; two prominent white veins running through center of bowl, perpendicular to spout.