Wine jar with early serekh
A vessel inked or incised with a serekh bearing a king’s name might have been produced at a royal estate, used in a palace, or intended as a royal tomb good. This serekh, among the oldest known, is so ancient that scholars disagree on its reading. The carving could be the Horus name of a little-known Predynastic ruler, or it could simply symbolize the institution of kingship.
Artwork Details
- Title: Wine jar with early serekh
- Period: Predynastic Period, Naqada III–Early Dynastic Period
- Dynasty: Dynasty 0–1
- Date: ca. 3300–2960 BCE
- Geography: From Egypt
- Medium: Pottery
- Dimensions: H. 69 × Diam. 9.2 cm (27 3/16 × 3 5/8 in.);Rim Diam.: 8.4 cm (3 5/16 in.)
- Credit Line: Gift of Ernst E. Kofler, 1961
- Object Number: 61.122
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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ca. 2051–2030 B.C.
ca. 3500–3300 B.C.
ca. 3200–3100 B.C.
ca. 2960–2649 B.C.
ca. 2649–2630 B.C.
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