Early Bronze Age Basalt Bowl from the Jordan Valley

Culture: Levant

Period: 3500-3000 B.C.

Material: Basalt

Dimensions: 13 cm high; 27 cm in diameter

Price: 16 000 Euro

Ref: 6502

Provenance: Private collection Shlomo Moussaieff (1925-2015), Israel. Acquired between 1948 and 2000.

Condition: A small chip on the rim, otherwise only small, insignificant wear and intact.

Description: Large vessel made of one single basalt piece from the early settlements of the Jordan Valley. The deep-walled, round bowl is flattened at the base, and has four semi-circular handles which reach from the top to the bottom rim. The wall extends upwards, the rim is rounded and slightly turned outwards. Early Bronze Age vessels such as the present one were found in the Jordan Valley, they possibly served for ritual ceremonies. See the bowl with the same shape and additionally decorated with a relief in the Israel Museum with the inventory number IAA (Israel Antiquities Authority): 1987-1394, which was found in the Beit She’an valley.