In the Israel of Biblical times, this elegant vessel might have held ointments or perfumes, or perhaps an offering of wine or honey. Or perhaps it held sauces or condiments to delight the palate and spruce up an otherwise humble meal for a shepherd.The functional simplicity of this vessel lends it a timeless elegance that appeals to contemporary tastes as much as it surely did to ancient ones. Even after the passage of millennia, the design of such a jug could hardly be improved upon. What did it once contain, we wonder, and who held this bowl? Did those ancient people stop, as we do, to admire the grace of the vessel as they held it in their hands? We feel in its presence a direct bond with those long-forgotten individuals. - (SP.314)

Antiquities
Ancient Near East