amphora
Sign in to savethumb|Silver amphora-rhyton with zoomorphic handles, , Vassil Bojkov Collection ([[Sofia, Bulgaria)]]
AI overview
An amphora is a large ancient vessel with two handles, typically used for storing and transporting liquids like wine or oil. These containers are important to archaeologists and historians because they provide evidence about trade, daily life, and craftsmanship in ancient civilizations.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Artifact.image_caption
- Amphora designed for marine transport, taken from shipwrecks of the Bronze Age, on display in the Museum of Underwater Archaeology at Bodrum Castle, Turkey. The museum archaeologists have devised a rack and roping device to illustrate how the cargo might have been kept from shifting.
- Artifact.image2_caption
- Panathenaic prize amphora in the black-figure style, showing the goddess Athena
- Artifact.material
- Ceramic, a small minority in metal, rare instances in stone or glass
- Artifact.size
- Small-volume container varying from table-top size to half the height of a human, able to be carried by one or more people.
- Artifact.writing
- Sometimes inscribed with an identifying mark, or, in the case of painted ware, the signature of the potter or artist and the names of the characters depicted in the scene.
- Artifact.created
- Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Middle Ages
- Artifact.discovered
- The shards are ubiquitous in any type of archaeological context. The vessels were used primarily to carry wine, which was drunk by all known peoples over Eurasia from at least the Neolithic.
- Artifact.location
- Circum-Mediterranean, Black Sea, Eurasia from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
- Artifact.name
Article
17 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Weights and measures
- Production
- Classification
- History
- Prehistoric origins
- Ancient Greece
- Greek amphora types
- Neck amphora (c. 6th–5th century BC)
- Belly amphora (c. 640–450 BC)
- Panathenaic prize amphora
- Ancient Rome
- Modern use
- See also
- Citations
- General references
- External links
thumb|Silver amphora-rhyton with zoomorphic handles, , Vassil Bojkov Collection ([[Sofia, Bulgaria)]]
An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land or sea. The size and shape have been determined from at least as early as the Neolithic Period. Amphorae were used in vast numbers for the transport and storage of various products, both liquid and dry, but mostly for wine. They are most often ceramic, but examples in metals and other materials have been found. Versions of the amphorae were one of many shapes used in Ancient Greek vase painting.