Base Ring Juglet

This juglet is made of Base Ring Ware, and is related to the tankard in the Bronze Age Case. This type of pottery is a hallmark of the Late Bronze Age in the Mediterranean, and it is found everywhere. Upturned, these juglets resemble an opium poppy capsule. Vertical slits that allow the narcotic sap to be collected are rendered on the body in either applied clay or paint. Some archaeologists suggest that the juglet's distinctive shape advertised its narcotic contents. Although opium's anesthetic properties were recognized in antiquity and the drug is mentioned in Egyptian medical texts, chemical analyses have yet to confirm that Base Ring juglets in fact contained opiates.