**Originally Listed At $150**

Central Asia, Bactria (Bactria-Margiana/BMAC), ca. 3rd to 2nd millennium BCE. A shallow dish carved from alabaster with a square rim and a round mouth. The dish stands on a square base, with two deeply incised rings around the mouth on the rim. Alabaster, a light-colored, calcareous stone from the Iranian Plateau, has strong connections in ancient western and central Asia to religion and specifically the gods. For example, in the site of Kultepe-Kanes, a huge burial mound, there were many disc-shaped alabaster idols, naked alabaster goddesses, and lion figures. We also know that alabaster was a precious material, widely traded in the region from the 4th millennium BCE onward. A dish like this one was made to be placed into a tomb to hold offerings. Size: 3.75" W x 1.2" H (9.5 cm x 3 cm)

Provenance: private Orange County, California, USA collection, acquired before 2000

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#131838

Losses from the edges as shown. Dark encrustation in lower profile areas.