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[German version] (ὁ/τὸ σκύφος; h o/tò skýphos…

(πίναξ/ pínax, 'board, painted or inscribed tablet'; extended meaning, 'inscription, register'). [German version] [1] (Greek 'notice-board') Notice-board, board for announcements of all kinds (Hdt. 5,49,1; Plut. Theseus 1,1). Welwei, Karl-Wilhelm (Bochum) [German version] [2] Athenian register of citizens ( pínax ekklēsiastikós). At Athens, the register of citizens entitled to take part in the po…

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(ἀσκός; askós). [German version] [1] Wineskin Leather wineskin. Scheibler, Ingeborg (Krefeld) [German version] [2] Vessel type Collective archaeological term for closed vessels with stirrup handle and spout ( Vessel forms). Larger ‘sack pots’ as early as the Bronze Age; askoi in the form of birds and ducks mainly in the 8th cent. BC, also present in Etruria. Loops handles suggest flasks, pictorial representations, drinking vessels. The small, black-varnished or red-figured askoi of the 5th-4th cents. BC in the form of skins, or lenticular or ring-shaped, probably held cooking oil. Southern Italian askoi of the 4th-3rd cents. BC bear relief decoration. Functionally comparable to the askos is the guttus…

[German version] Vases worked three-dimensionally using a combination of techniques; figurine vases made by coroplasts, often originating from the same moulds as the statuettes (terracottas). Precursors in Anatolia, Egypt and the Ancient Orient. Greek figurine vases of clay (birds, cattle, horses) in greater numbers from the 14th cent. BC. [1]. Vast production of ointment vessels with glazed clay painting in the 7th-6th cents. BC e.g. in Corinth [2], Rhodes [3] and Boeotia: complete figures, busts…

[German version] (ὁ κρατήρ/ ho kratḗr from κεράννυμι, keránnymi, ‘to mix’; Linear B: acc. ka-ra-te-ra). Wide-mouthed vessel for mixing water and wine, used at banquets (Hom. Od. 1,110), as well as in sacrificial r…

[German version] (ὁ ψυκτήρ; ho psyktḗr). Vessel made of clay or bronze for keeping wine cool. Occasionally double-walled craters and amphoras served this purpose in the 6th cent. BC. In about 530 BC a mushroom-shaped psykter was invented in Athens (Pottery, shapes and types of, ill. C 8) and was subsequently manufactured in numerous red-figure workshops (Oltus, Euphronius [2], Euthymides). Its earlier forms are co…

[German version] [1] Storage and transport vessel (ἀμφορεύς; amphoreús). Two-handled, bulbous storage and transport vessel with a narrow neck. The predominant form of storage vessels in antiquity, these have survived mainly in clay, rarely in bronze, precious metals, glass or onyx. Among  household equipment regarded as undecorated ceramics for everyday use ( Clay vessels II). Painted amphoras served ritual purposes as ornamental items on graves, urns for storing ashes,…

[German version] (ἀλάβαστρον, ἀλάβαστος; alábastron, alábastos). Slender perfume bottle without a base whose contents were accessed with small sticks ( Pottery). Examples of clay, precious metal, glass and lead have been found. Egyptian precursors, made of alabaster, imported into Greece in early times. Greek clay alabastra already around 600 BC in east Ionia; deviating from that the proto-Corinthian pouch version. Rich production of painted clay …

[German version] (ἐπίνητρον; epínētron). A curved cover, wrongly referred to as ónos (ὄνος), for the protection of thighs and knees during the cleaning and combing of wool; according to Hesychius s.v., the epinetron was used to card the fibres, but more likely to prepare the rovings (see illustr.). …

[German version] (φιάλη; phiálē). In Homeric times, the term for a kettle (Lebes), basin, vessel in general. Later it was used only for a bowl without a foot and handle, which - in contrast to the Ancient Near Eastern model - was equipped with an omphalos, for better handling. An omphalos was a central concavity of the base into which a finger could be inserted from below. The use of the term phiale to indicate this shape is attested as early as the 7th cent. BC. A…

(τὸ ῥυτόν/ tò rhytón). [German version] I. Object Funnel-shaped vessel for dispensing and drinking, usually ending in the head, or protome, of an animal; the name is derived from ῥύσις/ rhýsis (‘stream’) because the liquid could run out through a small hole at the bottom as long as it was not held closed [1; 2]. Scheibler, Ingeborg (Krefeld) Bibliography 1 F. von Lorentz, s.v. Rhyton, RE Suppl. 6, 643 …

[German version] (ὁ/ἡ λάγυνος; ho/ hē lágynos). Wine bottle with handle, wide flat body, high narrow neck and sealable mouth (see Vessels, shapes and types of, fig. B 10). A Hellenistic type of vessel prevalent up to and into the Imperial period. Every participant in the lagynophória (λαγυνοφόρια), a Dionysiac street festival in Alexandria, brought along a lagynos for his share of wine (Ath. 7,276a-c). Scheibler, Ingeborg (Krefeld) Bibliography …

[German version] A. Forms, functions, names The variety of ancient pottery (ἀγγεῖον/ angeîon; vas) results primarily from the diversity of uses, such as transport, storage, scooping, pouring, mixing of solid or fluid contents (functional shapes) and secondarily from differences of form determined by period and region (types). The functional shape indicates only the basic functional structure, which is given its concrete expression only by a type. The fixed functional characteristics of an amphora (cf. fig. A…

[German version] (ἡ ὑδρία; hē hydría). Water jug with three handles and a narrow mouth, as it is described in the inscription of the Troilus scene on the Clitias Krater (Florence, MA). The form occurs already in Early Helladic ceramics and on Mycenaean clay tablets from  Pylos (called ka-ti). The older rounded form was replaced in the 6th cent. BC, now in bronze and silver as well, by the elongated shoulder hydria and a bit later by the kalpis with continuous profile ( Vessels fig. B 11-12). Very slender hydriae still existed in the 4th cent. BC and into the Hellenistic …

(ἀρύβαλλος; arýballos). [German version] [1] Leather bag Leather bag. Scheibler, Ingeborg (Krefeld) [German version] [2] Spherical container Technical term for spherical containers of ointment ( lekythos), worn on an athlete's wrist; they have survived in clay, faience, bronze and silver. Originating in Corinth, the form reached Sparta and Rhodes in the 6th cent. BC, and subsequently Attica. Scheibler, Ingeborg (Krefeld) B…

[German version] Wrong term for a cauldron ( Pottery, shapes and types of;  Lebes). Scheibler, Ingeborg (Krefeld)

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[German version] In Antiquity, manufacturers of simple utilitarian pottery generally met only the local demand of their region, while finer, decorated ceramics were also intended for the transregional market. However, the latter could also stimulate the export of poorer goods. The distribution of pottery finds in many cases indicates corresponding trade links, but there are also other factors to consider: the extended find radius of My…

[German version] (ἡ πυξίς; hē pyxís). Box, round container with a lid; the Hellenistic name is derived from πύξος/ pýxos (‘box tree wood’), from which pyxides were often fashioned; the older Attic name is probably κυλιχνίς/ kylichnís…

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[German version] (ὁ or τὸ κέρνος; ho or tò kérnos). According to Ath. 11,476f; 478d, a cult vessel with added kotyliskoi (drinking cups), which contained poppy seed, wheat, lentils, honey, oil, etc. (similar to panspermia). Kernoi were carried around in processions and their contents finally eaten by the bearers ( mystai). Kernoi with attached lights are also mentioned (sch. Nic. Alex. 217). Kernoi were used in cults of fertility and mother goddesses, especially in that of Rhea Cybele. Larger quantities of clay pots with wreaths of k…

[German version] Type three wine pitchers ( Pottery, shapes and types of;  Chuos), used in Athens in drinking competitions on the day of Choes during the  Anthesteria. Not firmly identified with clay pitchers of similar size painted with freely chosen motifs. More easily differentiated are the small CP (5-15 cm high) produced in great numbers c. 400 BC. These bore images of children, pointing to sources that suggest the Choes as marking an important transition point in children's lives (IG II/III2 13139, 1368 l. 127-131). Some feast scenes, moreover, …

(ἀστράγαλος; astrágalos). [German version] [1] see Ornaments see  Ornaments Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg) [German version] [2] Playing-piece Playing-piece ( talus). Knucklebones from calves and sheep/goats, also those made of gold, glass, marble, clay, metals and ivory, mentioned already in Hom. Il. 23,85-88 as playing-pieces. Astragaloi were used as counters for games of chance,  dice and throwing games, including the games ‘odd or even’ (Pl. Ly. 206e) or πεντάλιθα ( pentálitha,  Games of dexterity). In the astragalos game the individual sides had varying values: the co…

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[German version] Modern archaeological term for the coarser ceramics in everyday use, a definition blurred by the fact that black glaze ceramics,  terra sigillata, and sometimes even painted fine ceramics were put to everyday use. However, as a pottery product, everyday crockery is clearly distinguishable from the latter three. The handle, rim, and foot profiles are less clearly defined; the outside of vessels is mostly unslipped or only thinly glazed and perfunctorily decorated. In contrast with frequently exported fine ceramics, this is mostly pottery produced for local markets only ( Pottery, production of). It was generally used for domestic purposes and in agriculture [1], in trade [2], on markets [3], and in long-distance trade ( Transport amphorae). The repertoire of forms ranged from heavy tubs, barrels, mortaria to lighter wares such as hydrias, jugs, small amphorae, cooking vessels [4], including numerous special forms for specific purposes, such as funnels, measuring jugs [5], beehives [1. 397-412], stands, colanders and sieves. In all historical periods, pottery for everyday use was produced in large quantities, and its shards are the staple commodity of most archaeological excavations. In the 19th cent., such …

[German version] The Greek custom of publicly praising someone's beauty using the epithet kalós (καλός, masc. = ‘beautiful’), less commonly kalḗ (καλή, fem.) is particularly evident in Attic vase inscriptions - made before the firing of the vessels - from the 6th and 5th cents. [1; 5]. Spontaneous graffiti [3] on vases can also be found, as well as other public kalos inscriptions (KI) [4. 22, 46-65] (schol. Aristoph. Vesp. 98). They stem from an interest in beautiful youths, also expressed in early Greek lyric poetry, and in the pederastic conventions of the time, but also in the ideal of kalo…

[German version] (ἡ λουτροφόρος; hē loutrophóros). Container for, or carrier of, bathing water. Mentioned by Dem. Or. 44,18 as a structure on top of a tomb showing the unmarried status of the deceased. Only late ancient and Medieval authors go into details about the loutrophoros as a wedding vessel and about the antique custom of erecting a monument ( mnḗma) in the form of a loutrophoros for the unmarried deceased ( ágamoi). This was apparently intended as a symbolic reconstruction of the bridal bath and wedding ( Wedding customs and rituals). The loutrophoros is described on the one hand as a vessel…

[German version] (στάμνος/ stámnos). Storage jar for wine, oil, etc.; mercantile inscriptions point to the pelike (Pottery, shapes and types of, fig. A 8); today an archaeological term for a bulbous lidded vessel with a recessed neck and handles on the shoulders (Pottery, shapes and types of, fig. C 6). First instances in Laconia and Etruria in the Archaic Period, adopted in Athens around 530 BC, in the 5th cent. almost exclusively exported from there to Etruria. Depictions on red-figured stámnoi show it as a central wine vessel in a Dionysian women's festival, though the term ‘Lenaean vases’ (Lenaea) is doubtful, as well as the use of the stamnos in Attic cults owing to its origins outside Attica and the high proportion of exported vessels. Scheibler, Ingeborg (Krefeld) Bibliography B. Philippaki, The Attic Stamnos, 1967  C. Isler-Kerényi, Stamnoi. An Exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1980  C. M. Stibbe, Lo Stamnos Laconico, in: BA 27, 1984, 1-12 …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Soon after clay appeared as a working material in the Near East at the end of the Pre-pottery Neolithic (PPNB, c. 7th millennium BC), pottery production began in the Pottery Neolithic (6th millennium BC). Previously, vessels had been made exclusively from organic materials (e.g., wood, leather) or stone. So-called 'white ware', of a naturally occurring lime and marl mixture that hardens by itself, can be considered a precursor of pottery. Pottery, at first exclusively and later also pa…