This is a typical large storage jar that was excavated by Sir William Flinders Petrie at the Early Dynastic cemetery at the site of Abydos in Upper Egypt.  Such jars were buried with the deceased to provide sustenance for the afterlife. This neckless shouldered jar is made of a dense brown fabric, probably a Nile silt.  The vessel is hand-made, probably coil built in sections, smoothed on the interior as well as on the exterior. The top of the rim is flat with the sides bevelled rather than rolled. The rim diameter is 19.5 cm with an aperture of 15 cm. Very likely the rim was made on some sort of slow wheel or turning device. The sides taper down to an almost flat base, 6.5 cm in diameter, perhaps cut to shape. The exterior is vertically scraped from the shoulder to the base. Originally the surface seems to have been polished.  The area above the shoulder has been badly damaged and scarred.  In this area there appears to be a small incised potmark, perhaps indicating the manufacturing workshop.