AN EGYPTIAN AMETYHST JAR

Amethyst was quarried in Egypt as early as the Predynastic era and was fashioned during the Early Dynastic period into stone vessels and jewelry. The squat shape of this jar with horizontal lug handles first appears in ceramic during the Predynastic period but is attested during 1st-2nd Dynasties in stone. For a similar example but ovoid in shape and embellished in gold at the rim, now in Berlin, see J. Crowfoot Payne, “An Early Amethyst Vase,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 60, pp. 79-81.