TYPE: Artifact
DIMENSIONS: About 6.5 inches (16 cm) in height and a total of 10 inches (25 cm) when displayed on its stand.
CONDITION: Intact and in good condition, with yellowish coloration overall.
ITEM ID: 3968
Ostrich Egg Water Container
DATE
Notes: Neolithic-Early Bronze Age, circa 4000-3200 BCE.
The shell is pierced twice at the top to facilitate storing and pouring of water. Cf. Kosloff, A. P. The Ratner Collection of Judaean Antiquities, page 6.
From The Living Torah Museum Collection; acquired from Amphora Coins (David Hendin), September 2003. Ostrich egg containers plainly used as canteens are rare finds in the Negev Desert, dating from the early Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. Such eggs originated in sub-Saharan Africa and required a fairly sophisticated system of trade, coming through Egypt, to reach the Middle East. Ostrich eggs were used by several cultures: The Phoenicians decorated intact eggs with geometric, floral and zoomorphic designs, and would cut them to form bowls, cups, vases and masks. Canaanite cultures preferred them undecorated and intact as water carriers.
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