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Details
LOT 0472
Egyptian Alabaster Kohl Pot with Later Hieroglyphs
SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, 1650-1550 B.C.
2 1/8 in. (208 grams, 55 mm high).
Comprising a squat piriform body with a wide everted rim, a band of later hieroglyphs beneath the shoulder: ḳmꜢ.t n bꜢw ı͗wnw nfrw.s (You have gathered the souls (i.e. divine powers) of Heliopolis—her beauties).
Provenance
Ex late London, UK, gentleman, 1970s.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
Cf. Vandier d’Abbadie, J., Les objets de toilette égyptiens au Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1972, pp. 84-85, no. 316, for a similar vessel.
Footnotes
The inscription on what is a cosmetic vessel could be interpreted as “You acquire the powers of Heliopolis, source of her beauty”; “her beauties” likely references either the woman using the vessel or perhaps the divine beauty imparted by the contents.
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