unguentarium
Also known as ampulla unguenti, unguentaria, lacrimarium, lacrimatorium, lacrymatory, lachrymatory, lacrimae, Tear Bottle
thumb|350px|Roman marbled glass piriform unguentarium (front and back) thumb|upright|Unguentarium carved from a 2860-carat Colombian emerald, Habsburg-Lorraine Household Treasure, [[Imperial Treasury, Vienna.]] An unguentarium (: unguentaria), also referred to as balsamarium (: balsamaria), lacrimarium (: lacrimaria) or tears vessel, is a small ceramic or glass bottle found frequently by archaeologists at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries. Its most common use was probably as a container for oil, though it is also suited for storing and dispensing liquid and powdered substan
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- Ungüentari que formava part d'un dipòsit funerari d'una tomba tardoantiga, museu de la ciutat d'Alacant.JPG
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9 sectionsContents
- Forms and function
- Commercial and secular use
- Funerary and religious context
- Examples
- In literature
- See also
- Selected bibliography
- References
- External links
thumb|350px|Roman marbled glass piriform unguentarium (front and back) thumb|upright|Unguentarium carved from a 2860-carat Colombian emerald, Habsburg-Lorraine Household Treasure, [[Imperial Treasury, Vienna.]] An unguentarium (: unguentaria), also referred to as balsamarium (: balsamaria), lacrimarium (: lacrimaria) or tears vessel, is a small ceramic or glass bottle found frequently by archaeologists at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries. Its most common use was probably as a container for oil, though it is also suited for storing and dispensing liquid and powdered substances. Some finds date into the early Christian era. From the 2nd to the 6th century they are more often made of blown glass rather than clay. A few examples are silver or alabaster.
Unguentaria were used as product packaging in commerce and for funerary practice. They are distributed throughout the Mediterranean region of the Roman Empire from Israel to Spain, and north into Britain and Germania. Their manufacture was nearly as widespread.