Matt. xxv. 6, 7.ALABASTER. It is said in the Gospel, that Jesus Christ being at table in Bethany, in the House of Simon the Leper, Mary the Sister of Lazarus, and Martha, came thither, and poured an alabaster box full of precious ointment on his head. This alabaster box was made of a sort of white marble, wherein precious liquors were generally preserved. Pliny says1, that this kind of stone or marble was found in the neighbourhood Mark xiv. 3.of Thebes in Egypt, and about Damascus in Syria. It was brought into any form or figure with great ease, this stone being neither hard nor brittle. All vessels to put liquors in had likewise in general the name of alabaster, of whatever matter they were composed. There are some Authors2 who are of opinion that the box here mentioned was of glass; and this opinion they confirm by what S. Mark says, that the Women who poured out the perfume upon our Saviour, broke the box of Alabaster. A vessel of glass was given to Constantine the Great3, said to be that wherein the liquor was contained which was poured upon the head of Jesus Christ. But Theodosius ordered it to be removed from the Forum of Constantinople, and put into a safer and more proper place. Some will have it that the name of Alabaster denotes the form rather than the matter of this box. Alabastrum may signify a vessel without an handle. It is certain that this term stands in general for a box to put perfumes in.
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