Jar
Predynastic Period, Naqada III 3200 BCE-3000 BCE
Medium
Nile silt clay
Measurements
24.3 × 4.5 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented by the Committee of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1899
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts - Great Hall Costume Corridor
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The works date to the Predynastic Period (c. 4000–3000 BCE), when the first permanent settlements developed along the banks of the Nile River. This period predates the development of hieroglyphs and the first pharaoh of Dynasty 0, who emerged as a result of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The objects come from simple pit burials that were cut into the desert floor. Many were excavated in the early twentieth century by the pioneering British archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie.From Petrie’s analysis of the ceramics, he was able to identify a development of form within the wavy-handled jars that gradually morphed into cylinder jars without handles. By identifying associations between the ceramic types in the graves, Petrie was able to develop a chronological sequence that became, and remains today, the basis for the chronology of the Predynastic Period.The vessels range from the earliest black-topped red ware vessels of around 4000–3500 BCE to the cylinder jars of early Dynasty I, c. 3000 BCE.