Egyptian
An Egyptian greywacke bowl, Early Dynastic, circa 3100 - 2700 BC
Greywacke
Height: 4.9 cm; diameter: 9.5 cm
With a smooth rounded body tapering to flat base, with narrow rim.
With a smooth rounded body tapering to flat base, with narrow rim.
Provenance
Ebnöther Collection, Switzerland, 1970s, thence by descent
Literature
Greywacke, also known as schist is a type of sedimentary dark sandstone that was used in Egypt from Predynastic times onward. These stones are common in the northern and central Eastern Desert. One ancient quarry is known near the Wadi Hammamat. Greywacke consists of fine sand grains varying from a dark grey to greyish green colour; the sand-size grains are still visible. Its surface can be highly polished.
For further discussion see B.G. Aston, 'Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels', Studien zur Archäologie und Geschichte Altägyptens 5, Heidelberg, pp. 28-32. For the form see A. El-Khouli, Egyptian Stone Vessels, Predynastic Period to Dynasty III, Mainz am Rhein, 1978, class VIII.