Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Cup with Impressed Decoration
Not on view
Did you know that there are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt? Beakers, cups, and jars were among the most common vessel types discovered at the royal pyramids in Meroë, the southern capital of the Nubian kingdom of Kush (ca. 591 bce–350 ce). Painted pottery from the region often bears a cream slip with red, brown, or black paint. However, stamping formed the core of its decorative program and remained central to Nubian artistic practice despite Ptolemaic, Roman, and early Byzantine influences that heavily utilized paint. Meroitic pottery featured motifs that were popular in Egypt, such as the ankh symbol seen on this cup. This variation of the ankh, tucked into a half-crescent, appears frequently in Meroitic ceramic decoration.
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