Alabaster

Alabaster is a soft white or partly transparent stone. It sometimes has lines or veins running through it. People often used alabaster to make small containers, bowls, statues, and perfume jars.

Alabaster is a fine-grained form of either gypsum or calcite. In Bible times, people used alabaster jars to hold expensive perfume (Matthew 26:7; Mark 14:3; Luke 7:37).

See also Minerals and Metals; Precious Stones.