Open-Mouthed Cosmetic Jar with Mud Stopper

Open-Mouthed Cosmetic Jar with Mud Stopper

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This Egyptian alabaster jar was found with two others inside the coffin of a scribe named Amenemhat. The jars had been placed near the head of the mummy along with a bundle containing knives, razors, and a whetstone. All three jars were well made from fine-grained white stone. This one originally contained some sort of liquid that left a brown, crusty residue. It was sealed with a stopper made of Nile mud. Amenemhat was the son of a man named Neferkhawet, and his burial was found in the family tomb in Western Thebes.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Open-Mouthed Cosmetic Jar with Mud StopperOpen-Mouthed Cosmetic Jar with Mud StopperOpen-Mouthed Cosmetic Jar with Mud StopperOpen-Mouthed Cosmetic Jar with Mud StopperOpen-Mouthed Cosmetic Jar with Mud Stopper

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.