Cup
Medium:Limestone
Geography: Keneh, Egypt
Date: c. 2040-1650 BC
Period: 11th-13th Dynasty, Middle Kingdom
Object number: 900.2.70
Gallery Location:Galleries of Africa: Egypt
Description
This small limestone cup was reportedly found in a Middle Kingdom tomb. It resembles the containers of sweet-smelling unguents seen in funerary art of this period, such as the False door of the Royal Sealer Neferiu [MMA 12.183.8] and the stele of the Stewart Dedu [Oriental Museum, Durham, EG 503.] The sweet smell was to please the spirit of the dead person and to cover up any odour of decay in the tomb. When it reached the Royal Ontario Museum, this cup was devoid of any trace of its original content, and so it is impossible to say whether it was a container unguents or had some other use.
