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White Cross-Lined Bowl with Turtle and Sun

c. 4000–3400 BCE
(3900–3300 BCE)
Nile silt pottery
Diameter: 18.1 cm (7 1/8 in.); Diameter of mouth: 13.7 cm (5 3/8 in.); Overall: 6.7 cm (2 5/8 in.)
Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1920.2008
Location: 107 Egyptian
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Description

Red polished vessels with white painted decoration (known as white-cross lined ware or C-ware) represent Egypt’s oldest known tradition in painted pottery. The decoration on this bowl features the sun on the side and a turtle on the bottom of the vessel. The turtle was considered the enemy of the sun god because it preferred the murky river bottom to the sunlight.
White Cross-Lined Bowl with Turtle and Sun

White Cross-Lined Bowl with Turtle and Sun

c. 4000–3400 BCE

Egypt, Predynastic (5000–2950 BCE), Naqada I–II (3900–3300 BCE)

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