Vase with lid for the foundation ceremony of a temple of Pharaoh Thutmose III, Ancient Egypt, New Kingdom, Dynasty XVIII, reign of Thutmose III, 1473 - 1426 BC. Alabaster and Egyptian blue. Height 10.5 cm. Bagot Arqueología - Ancient Art at Brafa Art Fair, Brussels, 21-29 january 2017.

An elegant vase in the form of a truncated cone, cut with great skill and delicacy from a block of calcite. It has a ring-shaped mouth on which the lid sits and is finished with a slightly projecting circular foot. Hieroglyphic inscriptions have been engraved on both the vase and the lid, and these have been decorated with Egyptian blue pigment.

Egyptian blue is considered to be the first synthetic pigment in history. It is a product obtained from the fusion of a mixture of lime, silica, calcite, copper mineral (malachite or azurite) and natron. The most ancient Egyptian blue discovered dates from Dynasty IV and was used in the decoration of sarcophagi and limestone statues. Excavations at Tell el-Amarna found ancient workshop dedicated to the production of Egyptian blue. In these excavations, small quantities of the raw materials used to make it were found. It was not commonly used to decorate pottery, but rather to decorate stone vases, as in this case. Moreover, amulets and small figure made entirely of a paste of Egyptian blue have been found.

The shape of this vase is typical of those made at the end of the Old Kingdom, but it continued to be seen later without great changes. These ritual vases were made to hold cosmetics to be offered to the gods during ceremonies, especially during the rituals of the daily worship of the gods. 

The engraving on the vase is in three registers of hieroglyphs framed with the symbol of the heaven. The translation reads: “The perfect god, Lord of the Two Lands, Men-Kheper-re (Thutmose III), giver of eternal life, loved of Amon-re, Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands, Lord of the Heaven, during (the ceremony) of stretching the cord in his west temple, Men Kheper-re who offers life (in the funerary temple of Thutmose III)”.

The only register engraved on the disk-shaped lid reads: “the perfect god Men Kheper-re (Thutmose III) giver of life”.

The laying of the foundations of Egyptian temples was accompanied by a ceremony led by the king, or by one of his subjects, called “Padj-shes” ceremony. The ritual for the king consisted of ten stages to be carried out: the ground plan had to be marked; gypsum or natron had to scattered in the air above the work to purify it; the first trench had to be dug; the first four bricks had to be moulded; the sand at the bottom of the trenches had to be compressed; the construction begun; the complex purified; the temple presented to the gods and finally, offerings and sacrifices had to be made. All of these acts had to be carried out within the new temple complex and the process could go on for several years.

These ceremonies were carried out under the auspices of the goddess Sechat, goddess of writing and knowledge. During the celebrations, objects and offerings were placed under the floors and the walls, usually in the corners. These votive deposits for laying the foundations of temples were usually models in reduced size of work tools such as axes, hoes, amulets, animal skins, bricks and a variety of other objects, such as this vase. These usually bore some sort of inscription, as in this case, giving the name of the sovereign who was making the offering, the name of the building and the principal divinity associated with it.

Provenance: Private collection, Belgium, acquired from an Israeli collection in the 1960s.

Bagot Arqueología - Ancient Art - Classical and Egyptian Antiquities. Consell de Cent 278, 08007 Barcelona, Spain