These two small stone vessels were found in the tomb of the 2nd Dynasty king Khasekhemwy at Abydos. After more than 4500 years they are still sealed with their original gold foil lids and little clay sealings – and so they may still hold cosmetic material of some sort.

They look quite simple but they would be luxury items. And it’s not just the gold that makes them so. Carving out a hard piece of stone into a graceful and polished container with the technology available at the time would be extremely labour intensive as well as requiring skill.

They are now in the Cairo Museum, acc. no.s: JE34941, JE34944

See them on my photo site: https://photos.talesfromthetwolands.org/picture.php?/477/ and there’s a side on view to the right.

I’ve written about Khasekhemwy on the blog before: https://talesfromthetwolands.org/2019/10/01/the-two-lords-are-at-peace-in-him/

Jigsaw puzzles:
easier: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=158df68fa7dd
harder: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=2276ed49049f