HVWO 023III

Omani softstone Vase. Softstone can be Steatite, Soapstone or Chlorite (Herringbone pattern with broken lines) Approx. 3500 years old.
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Steatite Soapstone Vessel Vase Oman Chlorite

Fine stone vessel made of Soapstone / Steatite with the dot in circle motif and very prominently the herringbone pattern of broken lines (asymmetric) These vases are carved out of a big piece of stone, so no pottery!  These type of pots were manufactured in Oman and also exported to Mesopotamia. They were used for holding burial gifts or storage: e.g. oil, concentrated fluids and honey.  Burial places can also have the shape of beehives. Famous burial place were many of these vases were found is in Baht.  Height 6,5 cm.By the middle of the the second millennium the Herring bone pattern of broken lines was the successor of the dot in circle design of the previous vase.

Omani archeology Steatite Vessel

Softstone Vessel with herringbone design

Name:Softstone vessel, decorated in a herringbone design.

Period: Middle second Millennium before Christ (So dating from around 3500 years ago) Dating based on the herringbone decoration (See ref. Haser 1990)

Origin:  Location it was made or found in Oman, unknown.

 References
  1. Journal of Oman Studies (series)
  2. Mehr als Kupferin Oman by Weisgerber ( worked in Oman e.g. Maysar as an archaeologist over a long period)
  3. The Arabian Gulf in Antiquity Volume 1 by Potts page 249-251
  4. The soft-stone Inventory of Shimal by Haser BBVO 9 p 103-7
  5. The sultanate of Oman Prehistory and Proto-history By Muhd. Abdul Nayeem
  6. Catalog Oman exhibition Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam 2009 page 10,27, 54. ; Contains similar item.
  7. Muscat gate Museum memoirs of history April 2001 p 11 Contains photo of similar Vase from Bawshar
  8. Oman Faces and Places page 30 and page 32
  9. Dilmun and its Gulf Neighbors Harriet Crawford
  10. 2016 The bronze age towers at Bat, Sultanate of Oman Researched by the Bat Archaeological Project 2007-2012 edited by P. Thornton etc. Published by University of Pennsylvania 330 pages