Day 24 - Hippo Bowl (8215405402)

Hippo Bowl (Acc. 5069)
This bowl is handmade from aluvial clay, and burnished both inside and outside. It has a diameter of 22cm. Archaeologist W.M.F. Petrie coined the term 'C-ware' or 'white cross-lined ware' to describe this type of painted pottery. The decoration of this distinctive bowl combines a geometric design in white paint with four separately modelled figures of hippopotami. This is an early example of using images of a dangerous animal to decorate a commonplace object.
This bowl dates to the Predynastic Period (Naqada I). It was discovered in el-Mahasna (Upper Egypt), in Tomb H29.

It was donated to the Manchester Museum by the Egypt Exploration Fund.