A small bag-shaped jar that has been wheel spun with a hand-carved base. The pottery vessel appears to have been poorly fired, with several areas appearing much darker. Traces of mica are present along the body of the vessel. There is an incised line that has applied decoration attached, just beneath the rolled rim (outside), which depicts the horns of a cow and sun-disk linking it to the goddess Hathor. Hathor vases probably contained wine or milk drunk at Hathor festivals. Hathor was a goddess of drunkenness, but the milk aspect is supported by the fact that temple estates kept cows for holy milk. It has been slightly misshapen causing unevenness on the body, although there are no visible breaks. This jar dates to the Second Intermediate Period.

2.5YR 5/6 red

Budka, Julia 2016. Vessels of life: new evidence for creative aspects in material remains from domestic sites. In Bader, Bettina, Christian M. Knoblauch, and E. Christiana Köhler (eds), Vienna 2 - ancient Egyptian ceramics in the 21st century: proceedings of the international conference held at the University of Vienna, 14th–18th of May, 2012, 85–102. Leuven: Peeters. Pudleiner, Resző 2001. Hathor on the Thoth Hill. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 57, 239–245.