Hexagonal Pilgrim Jug
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Under Byzantine rule and continuing under Islam, pilgrims collected sanctified oil or water poured over relics and sacred objects at holy sites and brought it back in small containers such as those in this case. These liquids were considered to be eulogiai, material blessings.
One side of this flask features a standing caliph, an image found on Umayyad coins, suggesting it was used by Muslim visitors to Islamic, or even certain Christian, holy sites, which Muslims are known to have visited during the early Islamic period.
One side of this flask features a standing caliph, an image found on Umayyad coins, suggesting it was used by Muslim visitors to Islamic, or even certain Christian, holy sites, which Muslims are known to have visited during the early Islamic period.
Artwork Details
- Title: Hexagonal Pilgrim Jug
- Date: late 7th–early 8th century
- Geography: Made in Palestine
- Medium: Glass, molded
- Dimensions: 5 5/16 x 2 3/8 in. (13.5 x 6 cm)
- Classification: Glass
- Credit Line: The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (AN1949.144.a)
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters