Votive Pomegranate Vase

This gold pomegranate vase was part of a votive offering dedicated to the cat goddess Bastet in her temple at Tell Basta.

The body of this vase is decorated with small, embossed beads shaped like pomegranates, which were among the fruits introduced into Egypt from the East at the beginning of the New Kingdom. The neck of the vase is decorated with four registers, or sections, of floral motifs.

These motifs include a frieze of lance-shaped leaves, a series of lotus flowers, bunches of grapes and small flowers, a row of stylized rosettes, and a garland of flowers.

The handle is formed of a moving ring that passes through a bar fixed to the rim of the vase. The bar is decorated with a relief of a calf lying down.

This vase was found with other objects at Tell Basta, the ancient town of Per Bastet , in the south-eastern Delta. The articles were probably part of a votive offering in the temple dedicated to Bastet, the goddess represented as a woman with the head of a cat, whose cult was centered in this locality.

The body of this charming vase is decorated with small embossed beads supposed to reproduce a pomegranate, a fruit introduced into Egypt from the East at the start of the New Kingdom. Pomegranates were very popular and frequently appeared in funerary offerings.

Floral motifs in four registers decorate the neck of the vase including, from the top, a frieze of lance-shaped leaves, a series of lotus flowers, bunches of grapes and small flowers, a row of stylized rosettes, and a garland of flowers.

The handle is formed by a moving ring that passes through a bar fixed to the rim of the vase. The bar is decorated with a relief of a lying calf. The use of precious gold and silver plate was limited to the royal court and their dimensions were usually small.

Third Intermediate Period, ca. 1070-664 BC. From Bubastis (Tell Basta). Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 39870; CG 53261