Alabaster

Alabaster is a fine-grained, translucent stone used in the ancient Near East for perfume and ointment containers. In Scripture it appears in the New Testament accounts of a woman who broke an alabaster flask of precious nard and poured it on Jesus (Matt. 26:7; Mark 14:3; Luke 7:37). The stone's smooth, impermeable quality made it the preferred material for storing costly aromatic substances, preventing evaporation. Ancient vessels of this type were narrow-necked and sealed, typically broken at the neck to release their full contents at once.

The costliness of the ointment within the alabaster box was integral to the symbolic weight of the act. Jesus interpreted the anointing as a preparation for his burial and declared that the woman's act would be told as a memorial wherever the gospel is proclaimed (Matt. 26:13).