Fragment of a Mortar with a Face-Shaped Support
Unknown · Late Bronze Age, undated in the museum record
A chunk of dark basalt, only a few centimetres across, on which a human face has been carved. It is the remains of a mortar, the heavy stone bowl in which grain, spices or pigments were ground, and the face belonged to one of its feet or supports. Look at the simple features, the eyes, nose and mouth, cut into the hard volcanic rock with a few decisive strokes. Basalt is difficult to carve, which makes even this rough face a considerable piece of work for a domestic utensil.
The fragment was found at Ras Shamra, the ancient Ugarit, during the French excavations, and came to the Louvre in the division of finds with Syria. Basalt was quarried inland in Syria and used everywhere in the region for grinding equipment because of its rough, hard-wearing surface. A mortar standing on supports shaped like faces turns a kitchen tool into something closer to a ritual object, and it may have served in a temple or a wealthy house. Set beside the gold, ivory and myths of Ugarit in this room, it is a reminder of the everyday labour that fed the city.
Did You Know? Basalt is so hard that carving even a small face into a mortar foot took far more effort than the grinding it was made for.
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