Vase in the form of a bird
First Intermediate Period–early Middle Kingdom
The body of this pottery vase of Nile clay is in the form of a bird. The bird’s head and the tail have been broken off and it stands on four small feet. The body of the vessel is covered all over with a red coating and decorated with notches on the rim and wide bands of white paint which stretch horizontally across the widest part of the vessel. The birdlike aspect of the pot is further emphasized by two birds molded in clay and applied on each side of the neck . Vases in the shape of animals were popular in Egypt at all periods beginning in the Predynastic, both in pottery and stone. Forms that appear whimsical to us had a deeper symbolic meaning for the ancient Egyptians. Similar bird vases were found in the First Intermediate Period tombs at Beni Hasan.
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