Cover Story

Egyptian ceramic bowl dating to the Predynastic Period, ca. 3900–3650 BCE. Bowls with human feet produced during this period are very similar in form to the Egyptian hieroglyph that means “to bring.” Archaeologists speculate that perhaps vessels like this were placed above a tomb to present offerings from the living to the deceased, a practice that was an established part of funerary ritual in pharaonic Egypt. Alternatively, they may have held offerings to a deity in his shrine. Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum.