Queen's Vase with Berenike II

A relief portrait of Berenike II, the queen of Egypt, decorates this fragmentary faience oinochoe or pitcher. Standing between an altar and a pillar, Berenike holds a cornucopia--a symbol of wealth and prosperity--and pours a libation or liquid offering to the gods from a phiale or shallow cup. An inscription in Greek over the altar reads, "To the good fortune of Queen Berenike." She was the wife of Ptolemy III who ruled from 246 to 221 B.C. as part of the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty that controlled Egypt in the Hellenistic period. Although its neck is missing, this vase is one of the best preserved examples of a class of offering vessels scholars call "Queen's vases." These faience oinochoai depicting Ptolemaic queens offering libations represent a fusion of the Greek and Egyptian elements that co-existed in Ptolemaic Egypt. Faience was a traditional Egyptian material for offering vessels, but the oinochoe shape, the subject matter, and the style of the depiction are Greek. Beginning in 285 B.C. Ptolemaic rulers were worshiped as gods, and these vases were connected with their cult. During religious festivals, these jugs would have held wine for libations in honor of the royal family.