Food and drink at home

Look for the terracotta jar with a pale beige surface, dark bands and dots, and touches of red. It is about the height of a small tabletop lamp. Follow the decoration around the jar before thinking about what once went inside. The jar was found at Deir el-Medina in Egypt and dates to the early eighteenth dynasty, more than three thousand years ago. It still contains remains identified as beer mash. You may not be able to see those contents from where you stand, but knowing they survived changes the way you look at the container. Its hollow space held something prepared for use. The surviving beer mash connects this jar with food, drink and the work of keeping provisions. Around the outside, the bands and dots show the attention given to decorating a vessel for everyday use. Look once more at the painted surface and the opening of the jar. We know where it was found and what remained inside. We do not know enough to name the person who used it. The clay, decoration and contents give us a part of domestic life without inventing that person’s story.