Ceramic object of note: The Dolphins Jug
How a jug from ancient Egypt raises questions about cross-cultural exchange and inspiration
Due to my long-form articles taking weeks of research (and multiple library trips), I have been thinking of (re)-introducing my “ceramic object of note”-series on a regular basis. These will be shorter articles examining a specific ceramic object, appearing in between longer analytical content. I hope you enjoy!
As I was navigating the Egyptian art collection on MET’s website, I was taken by the sight of an ancient jug. The dolphins and birds jug (pictured below) stood out because it feels out of place as something rather similar to the Minoan pots I had seen in other museums.
Indeed, this jug has an interesting history, some of it still debated.
The jug was found in 1921 in an excavation lead by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in shaft tomb 879 in a cemetery surrounding the pyramid of Amenemhat I at Lisht North. The tomb was located underneath a private house and the burial had been ransacked and then reused, making the exact dating of all the items found to be more difficult1. However, it is generally believed that it can be dated to the time of the Thirteenth Dynasty.
The jug is about 14cm in height and measures around 15cm at its widest point. Originally, the jug had a flat foot. It has a carved triple handle attached to a narrow neck, which is finished with a thick rolled rim. The decorations steal the show: it features 6 dolphins under a series of 10 birds.
The animals were first painted with a manganese-iron pigment; the outlines and the elements were then carved2. The jug was fired in an oxidization atmosphere and the lines were filled with a white calcium-carbonate paste3.
The jug was made with a mix of hand-building techniques and wheel throwing: the base was pinched and then set on the wheel, where the walls would be thinned out and pulled upwards4. The shoulder and neck of the jug were probably added by hand, as was the handle.
Dolphins were not typical of Egyptian vessels. They did appear, however, on Minoan frescos and pots. Of the most well-known examples, the fresco in the palace of Knossos (ca 1600BC), features two blue dolphins swimming around other fish. Dolphins were believed to be symbols of the gods protectors of the sea5.
One of the things that make this jug so interesting is that it seems to tell the story of multicultural relations: the clay and shape of the vessel indicate that it was made in the Levant (analysis of the clay shows that it came from Syria or Palestine)6, while the decorations heavily borrow from Minoan art7.
Was the vessel a gift? Was it imported and sold? I am interested in its story. How did this particular jug make its way to this tomb?
The context of Egyptian tombs does not make it easy to reconstruct the story of this object. Egyptian cemeteries are composed of layers of histories: they were used to bury kings and then the area was used to bury generations of other people of high standing8. Tombs were not only often expanded and altered, they were often robbed and ransacked and the various layers shifted so that objects of different periods can be found together9.
The tomb where the jug was found contained a coffin with the inscription “Debeheni, overseer of faience workers”10, perhaps indicating that this was now the tomb of artists working in the city. Did an artisan inherit this jug?
The dolphins jug is also not unique: many other examples of Levant-produced pots were found in burials in Egypt. It seems as if import of Canaanite pottery was common during the Twelfth Dynasty and then again at larger scale during the Thirteenth Dynasty11. It is believed that up to 3,4% of pottery sherds found in the village of Lisht came from the Levant: these were probably household items, once containing oil or wine, consumed by royal houses and then given to middle class people12.
While the exact date of creation of the jug is not set in stone, this pot certainly tells many stories. The clay was harvested in Palestine or Syria, where it was built, burnished, decorated, fired, finished and filled. Many hands were involved in its creation. It travelled to Egypt where its contents were consumed. It then found its way to a rich burial which was excavated centuries later, and it currently sits, behind glass in a temperature-controlled room, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Bibliography
Susan Allen J. "Vessel with Dolphins and Waterbirds." In Beyond Babylon: art, trade, and diplomacy in the second millennium B.C., edited by Joan Aruz, Kim Benzel, and Joan Evans. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008, pp. 62–3, no. 33
Janine Bourriau "The Dolphin Vase from Lisht." In Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, edited by Peter Der Manuelian, 1996
Gill Margaret A. V. “Some observations on representations of marine animals in Minoan art, and their identification”. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. Supplément 11, 1985. pp. 63-81
Tine Bagh "Jug Decorated with Dolphins and Birds." In Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom, edited by Adela Oppenheim, Dorothea Arnold, Dieter Arnold, and Kei Yamamoto. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015
Dorothea Arnold, Felix Arnold and Susan Allen, “Canaanite Imports at Lisht, the Middle Kingdom Capital of Egypt”. In Egypt and the Levant, Vol. 5 (1995)
Patrick E. McGovern, Janine Bourriau, Garman Harbottle, Susan J. Allen, “The Archaeological Origin and Significance of the Dolphin Vase as Determined by Neutron Activation Analysis” in Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 296 (Nov., 1994), pp. 31-43
Where you can find me or my work this month
Current exhibitions
One of my tea bowls is currently being exhibited in Wroclaw until October 1st, 2025 at the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Arts and Design (CSU.CI building, Traugutta 19/21, Glass Box, ground floor). The tea bowl qualified for the second stage of the competition with the theme: Ichi-go ichi-e (一期一会) – One time, one meeting. Info here.
Read my new diary entries for my 274 moons / 274 vases projects. I am making one vase for each one of Saturn’s moons and keeping a diary for each vase as I make it. Finished vases are also released to the public. Catch up on the project and diary entries here.
Susan Allen J. "Vessel with Dolphins and Waterbirds." In Beyond Babylon: art, trade, and diplomacy in the second millennium B.C., edited by Joan Aruz, Kim Benzel, and Joan Evans. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008, pp. 62–3, no. 33
Janine Bourriau "The Dolphin Vase from Lisht." In Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, edited by Peter Der Manuelian, 1996, p.105
ibid
ibid, p.104
Gill Margaret A. V. “Some observations on representations of marine animals in Minoan art, and their identification”. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. Supplément 11, 1985. pp. 63-81, p.81
Susan Allen J., ibid
Tine Bagh "Jug Decorated with Dolphins and Birds." In Ancient Egypt Transformed: The Middle Kingdom, edited by Adela Oppenheim, Dorothea Arnold, Dieter Arnold, and Kei Yamamoto. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015, p. 179
Dorothea Arnold, Felix Arnold and Susan Allen, “Canaanite Imports at Lisht, the Middle Kingdom Capital of Egypt”. In Egypt and the Levant, Vol. 5 (1995), pp.14-15
ibid
Susan Allen J., p.116
Dorothea Arnold, p.30
ibid
Now this is a very interesting object. I love this aspect of archaeology: how one can learn the connections and flows throughout the ancient world, when many people think the time of antiquity was a time of isolation. Yet here we have a pot made in the Levant, featuring Minoan symbols, in an Egyptian cemetery. How wonderful!