HVWO 023II

Omani softstone Vase. Softstone can be Steatite, Chlorite, and Soapstone (3500-4000 years old)
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Steatite Soapstone Vessel vase Oman Chlorite

Very rare asymmetric stone vessel Soapstone / Steatite with geometrical designs. 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 and the Indus valley. They were used for burial gifts or storage: holding oil, concentrated fluids and honey. Burial places can also have the shape of beehives. Famous burial place were some of these vases were found is in Baht.   Height 13 cm. Unusual design.

Omani steatite vessel

 

Name: Decorated Soft Stone Vessel

Period: Probably first or second millennium before Christ. Design rather unusual.

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 softstone 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 Bowshar
  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