Art/ Collection/ Art Object
Search
{{img.publicCaption}}

Decorated Ware Jar Depicting Ungulates and Boats with Human Figures

Period:
Predynastic, Late Naqada II
Date:
ca. 3500–3300 B.C.
Geography:
From Egypt
Medium:
Pottery, paint
Dimensions:
h. 30 x w. 31 cm (11 13/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
diam (of rim): 17 cm (6 11/16 in.)
diam (of opening): 14 cm (5 1/2 in.)
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number:
20.2.10
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 101
The images on this vessel represent important social or religious events, the precise significance of which is not perfectly understood. Two male and two female figures stand aboard a boat, which is depicted with oars and two cabins. In the areas surrounding the boat are mountains, birds that may represent flamingos, plants, and water.
#3220. Decorated Ware Jar Depicting Ungulates and Boats with Human Figures
For Audio Guide tours and information, visit metmuseum.org/audioguide.
Purchased in Egypt from Howard Carter, 1920.

Hayes, William C. 1953. Scepter of Egypt I: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: From the Earliest Times to the End of the Middle Kingdom. Cambridge, Mass.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 22-23, fig. 14.

Glubok, Shirley 1962. The Art of Ancient Egypt. New York: Atheneum, p. 40.

Hibbard, Howard and The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1970. Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries. New York, 80, no. 7.

Cox, Warren E. 1979. The Book of Pottery and Porcelain, 1. 1979. New York: Crown Publishing, p. 33, pl. 8.

Patch, Diana Craig 2011. "Introduction." In Dawn of Egyptian Art, edited by Diana Craig Patch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 10.

Patch, Diana Craig 2011. "From Land to Landscape." In Dawn of Egyptian Art, edited by Diana Craig Patch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 63, 70–71, nn. 116, 122, no. 71.

Patch, Diana Craig 2011. "The Human Figure." In Dawn of Egyptian Art, edited by Diana Craig Patch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 114.

Roth, Ann Macy 2011. "Objects, Animals, Humans, and Hybrids: The Evolution of Early Egyptian Representations of the Divine." In Dawn of Egyptian Art, edited by Diana Craig Patch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 194.

Silverman, David P. 2011. "Text and Image and the Origin of Writing in Ancient Egypt." In Dawn of Egyptian Art, edited by Diana Craig Patch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 207.

Allen, Susan J. 2011. "Works in the Exhibition." In Dawn of Egyptian Art, edited by Diana Craig Patch. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 250, no. 71.

Timelines
Egypt, 8000-2000 B.C.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
Dawn of Egyptian Art

Related Objects

Relief of an Acacia Tree Shading Water Jars with Drinking Cups

Artist: Date: ca. 2051–2030 B.C.
Accession Number: 26.3.353c Date: ca. 2051–2030 B.C. Medium: Limestone, paint Accession: 26.3.353c On view in:Gallery 104

Decorated ware jar with spiral design

Artist: Date: ca. 3650–3500 B.C.
Accession Number: 10.176.119 Date: ca. 3650–3500 B.C. Medium: Pottery, paint Accession: 10.176.119 On view in:Gallery 101

Jar Decorated with Boats

Artist: Date: ca. 3450–3350 B.C.
Accession Number: 07.228.135 Date: ca. 3450–3350 B.C. Medium: Pottery, paint (Decorated Ware) Accession: 07.228.135 On view in:Gallery 101

Cylindrical Jar

Artist: Date: ca. 3200–3100 B.C.
Accession Number: 12.187.5 Date: ca. 3200–3100 B.C. Medium: Pottery Accession: 12.187.5 On view in:Gallery 103

Decorated ware jar illustrating boats and trees

Artist: Date: ca. 3650–3500 B.C.
Accession Number: 10.176.118 Date: ca. 3650–3500 B.C. Medium: Pottery, paint Accession: 10.176.118 On view in:Gallery 101
A curatorial staff member looks at an ink drawing using a magnifying lens

Who Cares for the Collection?

Learn more about the curatorial staff and the scientists and conservators who collaborate to study, exhibit, and care for the objects in The Met collection.

A conservator analyzes a painting up close

Collection Insights

Voices from across the Museum offer new perspectives on works in The Met collection representing more than 5,000 years of human creativity.

A collage of various public-domain works of art in The Met collection

Open Access at The Met

Stay up-to-date on the Museum's Open Access initiative, which makes more than 375,000 images of public-domain artworks from The Met collection available for free and unrestricted use.

Book cover and selected pages from "The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings"

The Met Store

Explore publications and products inspired by The Met collection, which spans 5,000 years of culture from around the world.