LOT 0073

Large Phoenician Alabaster Alabastron with Hieroglyphic Inscription

CIRCA 600 B.C.

14 5/8 in. (420 grams, 37 cm).

Barrel-shaped in profile with a rounded base, broad shoulder and flared mouth, two lateral integral loop handles; incised hieroglyphic legend to the shoulder.

Formerly in a private collection, Beirut, Lebanon, 1990s.
Swiss private collection, acquired from Mr H., Geneva, 2010.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13221-249178.
Accompanied by a copy of an Art Loss Register certificate, no.S00059830

Cf. Moscati, S., I Fenici (The Phoenicians), Milano, 1988, p.234, for examples of Phoenician alabastra with Egyptian hieroglyphics; Aston, B.G., Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels: Materials and Forms, SAGA 5, Heidelberg, 1994, p.89, fig.18, no.218, for a similar vessel (without inscription).

In the Phoenician necropolises of Andalusia, the ashes of the deceased were enclosed in luxurious alabaster urns of Egyptian manufacture. In the Phoenician necropolis of Almuñécar, for example, some urns preserved inscriptions and emblems of various Egyptian pharaohs, who ruled the Nile region between the 16th and 8th centuries B.C. Alabaster vessels of this type, originally containing fine wines, have been discovered, albeit in smaller numbers, in the royal palaces of Assur and Samaria in the East, as part of war booty or gifts exchanged between royal houses.