Private Collection Alabaster Jar - Attributed to Roman Period, 100-300 AD

Offered is a small carved alabaster vessel from a private collection of over 30 years. According to the previous collector, the piece was acquired in Jerusalem.

History / Provenance:

Acquired by previous owner in Jerusalem, circa 1990s. Held in private collection in the US for over 30 years. No recent excavation. I am selling from that collection. I acquired it from an old collection in Israel in the 1990s and was told that it had been in a private collection for generations before that.

Description:

This is a small, hand-carved, bell-shaped alabaster jar with a flat rim and small foot. Cream colored stone with natural veining and earthy patina / surface deposits consistent with age and burial. See photos for condition - this IS the item you will receive.

Measurements: [YOU MUST ADD THESE]

Height: ~ 4.5 inches

Diameter at rim: 2 inches

Circumference at the widest point: 11 inches

Material: Alabaster / calcite

Condition:

Intact. Surface wear, discoloration, and mineral deposits as shown. Small chips to rim consistent with age. No visible modern repairs that I can see. Please see all high-resolution photos.

Alabaster vessels from the 1st century around Jerusalem are well documented in archaeology — they were luxury containers, not everyday dishes.

What most people call alabaster in this period is not modern gypsum alabaster, it's calcite-alabaster - a banded, creamy calcium carbonate stone. For a long time it was assumed all of it was imported from Egypt, which made it very expensive. Recent analysis of two of Herod the Great's royal bathtubs from Kypros and Herodium showed they were actually quarried locally in Israel, from the Te'omim Cave in the Jerusalem hills.

The study showed the calcite-alabaster industry in Judea in the second half of the 1st century BC was already developed enough to supply Herod himself.

Because the stone had to be quarried, hauled, and lathe-turned by hand, it was expensive. So it was used to hold precious liquids - perfumed oils, myrrh, nard, cosmetics, medicinal balms.

That's why you see them mentioned in texts from the period, including the Gospel accounts of the "alabaster jar" of ointment — an alabastron was the standard luxury perfume bottle of the time.

3. Shape and manufacture

The classic forms from 100 BC - 300 AD are small, elongated, flat rim, rounded bottom, no handles — like the one in my photo. Meant to be held in the palm and for a few drops of oil to be poured out.

They were turned on a primitive lathe, then hand polished inside and out. The interior is often more roughly finished than the exterior.

Jerusalem context

During the 1st century, Jerusalem was under Herodian and then direct Roman rule, and Roman trade brought in luxury vessels like never before. Excavations on the Ophel, just south of the Temple Mount, have found alabaster vessels in 1st century contexts — Prof. Uzi Leibner published a talk specifically on "An Alabaster Vessel from the Ophel, Jerusalem" from the 2022 season.

After 70 AD and the destruction of the Temple, similar small alabaster and glass balm jars continue into the 2nd-3rd century as Roman burial goods — that's why you see them dated 1st-3rd century.