Sumerian Electrum Tumbler in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, November 2009

Tumbler
Electrum
2550-2450 BCE
Ur, Iraq, (PG800, Tomb Chamber)

# B17691

This drinking vessel has been hammered out of a single piece of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver. It most likely would have been used at a royal banquet. Although it is made out of a precious metal, its design and fluted shape are typical of Mesopotamian drinking vessels. Examples can be seen in representations on cylinder seals and lyre panels. The loop on the rim suggests that the tumbler may have been hung around the neck or looped around the wrist with string or wire.

Text from the U. Penn. Museum label