alabastron

This smooth, turquoise-colored jar served as a container for perfumed oils. When it was made, perfumers blended floral scents, fragrant woods, and resins into a base of sesame or olive oil. Serving both secular and religious purposes in the ancient Mediterranean, perfumes were anointed on the bodies of the living and the dead, and archeological finds show that some sanctuaries had a room dedicated to perfume-making.