Stone vessels in ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptian stone vessel production was one of the most prolific and long-lived industries in the Mediterranean. Such vessels were an important status indicator, and commonly used to hold liquids or cosmetics, for ritual and display purposes, and as canopic jars. The earliest stone vessels in Egypt date as far back as the Late Neolithic (c. 5100 – c. 4700 BC). From the Predynastic Period (c. 4000 – c. 3100 BC) onward, hundreds of thousands were created in a wide variety of shapes and materials, many from hard stones but the majority from soft calcareous rocks, especially travertine. Hard stone vessels were luxury items that only the elite had access to. As such, they were frequently imitated with less expensive materials. Production peaked around the early Dynastic period (c. 3100 – c. 2686 BC), perhaps due to the adoption of a turning device like the potter's wheel. At the start of the Old Kingdom focus shifted away from stone vessels towards other stone-based displays such as pyramids, statues and sarcophagi. They were also increasingly replaced by equivalents of different materials like glass, faience and precious metals. Both hard and soft stone vessels continued to be produced until the end of antiquity and beyond, although in diminished quantity and variety. The production process of stone vessels began in a quarry, where vessel blanks (rough versions) were hewn from the bedrock. These were subsequently transported to workshops where they were hollowed out with drills. Sometimes rotary devices were used to shape them, perhaps potter's wheels or horizontal lathes. Lastly, their exterior was smoothed and decorated.

Use

Egyptian stone vessels were manufactured for everyday use, ritual and burial purposes (e.g. canopic jars), foundation deposits, temple votives, and as trade goods. They sometimes held substances like perfumes, oils, beverages or cosmetics like kohl. On their own, they had an ornamental value and were a status item that was distributed according to the steep social pyramid of ancient Egypt. Imitation pottery was available to a wider range of people. Most stones vessels were uninscribed: Only a small portion bear the names of pharaohs or members of the royal family, titles or labels of their contents or capacity. The presence of a cartouche may mean that they originated from a royal workshop and intended for use by the royal family or as a reward for outstanding service or loyalty. Dating stone vessels can be challenging, because they were sometimes reused, and vessels of similar shapes and materials were produced over a long time or in diverse periods.

19 stone jars, full of 'sweet oil', (called) azida20 stone jars, full of 'sweet oil'; kubu is its name20 stone jars (called) akunu, which are full of 'sweet oil'9 kukkubu-containers, of stone, full of 'sweet oil'; namsa is its name1 'cucumber', of stone, full of 'sweet oil'6 very large stone vessels, full of 'sweet oil'...

Manufacturing process The tools and techniques used to craft stone vessels differed significantly depending on the material. A soft stone vessel could be made in a few days with stone and copper chisels. Working hard stone was a lengthy process that could have taken over a year per vessel, hence they tend to be smaller and are less numerous. Evidence for the production process includes vessel blanks and tools found in quarries, unfinished vessels, hundreds of drill-bits, shaped grinders and drill-cores, blocks with test drillings as well as excavated workshops.

Quarrying

The quarrying of stone vessels was a multi-step process. The intermediate stages have been found in great quantities at multiple quarries. For example, at the anorthosite gneiss quarry at Gebel el-Asr, which was used almost exclusively to produce hard stone vessel blanks since the Predynastic Period (c. 4000 – c. 3100 BC), or slightly earlier. Large scale exploitation of the rock started in the Second Dynasty, and as many as 90,000 blanks may have been quarried there in total. By the end of the 3rd Dynasty (c. 2686 – c. 2613 BC), the higher-quality speckled variety of the stone was largely depleted and the lower quality subtype had to be used for the statues of the 4th and 5th Dynasty, such as Khafre Enthroned. In the 12th Dynasty the site briefly experienced a resurgence.

To extract a block from the bedrock, the surrounding soil and weathered rock fragments were removed first. This step could be skipped, if naturally detached boulders were available. The block would then be split into smaller fragments (cores) that could contain the shape of a vessel. Large stone pounders were employed for this task with a diameter up to 40 cm (16 in). For soft stones, copper chisels, wedges, saws and adzes were used. Fire-induced spalling technology was available, however usually not needed for smaller rocks. Each core was then worked with hand-axes or smaller pounders, by chipping off shards until a rough version of the vessel (a blank) was achieved. The quarried blanks were then transported to workshops in the Nile Valley where they were finished.

Rotary devices

The earliest evidence for a rotary device being used on Egyptian pottery goes back to the Naqada I period (c. 3600 BC). The insides of stone vessels were drilled since at least Naqada II (c. 3500 – c. 3200 BC). Rotary abrasion marks appear on the outsides of stone vessels as early as the Old Kingdom. Andrew Bevan suggests these striations to indicate the use of horizontal lathes or potter's wheels. The Potter's wheel was first used in the Near East between c. 4500 – c. 4000 BC, and in the Nile delta by Canaanite potters c. 3500 – c. 3300 BC. Preserved Egyptian wheel bearings consist of an upper pivot and a lower socket usually of basalt, granodiorite or limestone. Experiments showed their design to be capable of spinning at over 100 rotations per minute, if the stone surfaces were well polished and lubricated with viscous oil like linseed oil.

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