December Feature: Perfume Bottles
As Christmas approaches, this is a good time of year to remember Jesus’ life on earth. Christmas celebrates Jesus’ birth, but we can also meditate on His life and ministry leading up to His ultimate act of love and forgiveness, his death on the cross that paid the penalty for the sins of mankind. This was Jesus’ primary purpose for coming to earth, the reason why we now remember His humble birth so long ago.
As Jesus neared the time of His death on the cross, He spent time with His friends, Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.
“Then Mary took a pound perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” – John 12:3
When Jesus’ disciples protested that Mary had wasted the oil, Jesus replied,
“Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial.” – John 12:7
Such an expensive perfume would have normally been kept for a special occasion, and it may have represented the entirety of Mary’s wealth. Yet she was willing to pour it all out at the feet of Jesus. She understood that Jesus was worth more than any earthly treasure.
During the time of Jesus, storage jars and jugs were available in a variety of sizes and materials to accommodate a variety of substances. An expensive perfume like nard would have been stored in small jars of clay, glass, or alabaster.
One form of clay juglet in particular would have been ideal for storing expensive perfume. These simple juglets may have served a variety of purposes, including holding oil for refilling lamps. Yet, certainly this same type of juglet also functioned as perfume bottles.
Here are links to some of the small, Herodian-style juglets currently available on the website:
Oil Filler Juglet from the time of Jesus
Jesus Time Pottery Oil and Perfume Filler