Torch-holder

Unknown

332–30 BC · Pottery · Egyptian Art

Torches were used by workers in the catacombs at North Saqqara where mummified ibises were buried. Flammable material would be placed in the cup at the top, and once lit could be carried by the handle. The torch was found with other broken pottery and small material in the fill in a set of small buildings associated with the catacombs. The buildings were used from the time of Nectanebo II onward and so the torch probably dates to the Ptolemaic Period.

Artist

Unknown

Date

332–30 BC

Medium

Pottery

Department

Egyptian Art

Credit line

Adelaide Milton de Groot Fund, in memory of the de Groot and Hawley families, 1976