scholarly journals Roman ceramic thymiaterion from a Coptic hermitage in Thebes

2011 ◽  
pp. 199-207
Author(s):  
Tomasz Górecki ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Egypt ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Incense Burner ◽  
Late Roman

The rather massive and relatively well-preserved incense burner, distinguished not only by its size and weight, but also by quality of execution and elaborate painted decoration, was found in the fill of a Coptic hermitage located in a disused Pharaonic tomb at Sheikh Abd el-Gurna in West Thebes. A consideration of a limited set of known parallels for this thymiaterion, which is not a well studied form among the pottery from Roman Egypt, placed this piece between the Hellenistic and late Roman periods, more specifically, in the 3rd-4th century AD when a characteristic kind of slip started being used on the more "elegant" ceramic vessels. It must have come from either a tomb or rich residential surroundings, and found its way to the hermitage with the monks who were resourceful collecting of a whole range of "antiquarian" objects which they adapted for other uses.

Glass finds from Area FW at the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria (2019)

2020 ◽  
pp. 497-514
Author(s):  
Renata Kucharczyk
Keyword(s):  
Roman Period ◽  
Common Origin ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Local Market ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Late Roman Period ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Mosaic Glass ◽  
Late Roman

New glass finds from the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria come from the excavation of Area FW located in the central part of the site. The bulk of the recorded material, made up of conical lamps, beakers and bowls, and poorly fashioned bottles, belongs to the late Roman period (4th–5th century AD). The uniformity in colour, distinctive low quality of the fabric and simple workmanship, all point to a common origin in local workshops covering the needs of the local market. A few pieces, including luxury cast and facet-cut tableware, apparently from a non-local source, represent the late Hellenistic/mid-Roman chronological horizon (2nd century BC–3rd century AD). Meriting note is new evidence of mosaic glass, once again confirming that this type of glass was manufactured in Alexandria in the mid-Roman period. The importance of this assemblage derives from the presence of early Roman luxury tableware which has seldom been observed before at Kom el-Dikka.

Acoustic perceptions of vessel fitness in southern Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-280
Author(s):  
Kent D Fowler ◽  
Örjan Sandred ◽  
Autumn Whiteway
Keyword(s):  
Functional Properties ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Sensory Experience ◽  
Acoustic Properties ◽  
Archaeological Pottery ◽  
Ceramic Vessels

The acoustic properties of objects found in archaeological contexts have seen little attention because they are seldom found intact. Nevertheless, sound is quality of objects that is of tremendous significance during both their manufacture and use. In this article, the authors examine how the acoustic properties of ceramic vessels influence the perception of their fitness for use. Grounded in how sound cues correlate to visual, tactile and olfactory measures of vessel fitness in an ethnographic context, they focus on detecting perceptible sonic differences between damaged and undamaged vessels produced by Zulu and Swazi potters in southern Africa. The article demonstrates how sound is a key quality of vessel ‘strength’ that both potters and clientele use to gauge functional and social suitability. We show that studies of fabric characteristics, such as fissures and voids, in addition to fabric composition provide a means to infer the acoustic properties of archaeological pottery and evaluate the significance of sound in past valuations of vessel fitness. Archaeological discussions of materiality can explore how social valuations of vessel fitness are accessible through studies of the functional properties of ceramics that consider human sensory experience.

Partnership in the Lease of Cults in Greek Antiquity

1957 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Sokolowski
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Fifth Century ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
World War ◽  
Classical World ◽  
Roman Egypt ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Middle Ages ◽  
Late Roman

We are in possession of a Number of documents (inscriptions and papyri) relating to the lease of priesthoods in Greece and Egypt, dating from the fifth century B.C. to late Roman times. That curious practice, similar in some respect to the holding of Church benefices in the Middle Ages, has been studied by different scholars, but without agreement on many substantial points. Before the second World War K. Wilhelmson and M. Segre dedicated very important studies to the problem, advancing considerably the interpretation of the sources. In my Lois Sacrées of Asia Minor I collected many specimens of these documents and tried my best to promote their understanding. But nobody has sought to link the sale of cults in Greece with the same practice, as it is well attested through the papyri, in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt. Meanwhile the inscriptions and the papyri, put together, not only fill the lacunas existing in both fields of documentation, but contribute to elucidate the legal side of the practice itself. With the recent publication of the study of M. Talamanca on auction in the classical world, the task has now become easier. Unfortunately the author does not utilize the abundant epigraphical material on our subject. I should like to endeavor to supply in part this need.

scholarly journals The effects of plague: model and evidence

2002 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 114-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger S. Bagnall
Keyword(s):  
Economic Change ◽  
Prime Mover ◽  
Critical Response ◽  
Roman Egypt ◽  
Model Fits

In the foregoing article, W. Scheidel builds on earlier work, most notably that of R. P. Duncan-Jones in JRA 9, to offer a model for the predicted effects of the Antonine plague and to argue that the model fits the evidence from Roman Egypt reasonably well within the limits of the quantity and quality of the latter. In his second footnote, he encourages critical response, suggesting that it “may either corroborate or undermine my interpretation.” The following pages are intended as a contribution to that discussion, but with lesser ambitions than either corroborating or undermining the model as a whole. They offer some of both, in fact, but more in the direction of undermining it.There are three reasons for not claiming too much at this point and not offering any general conclusion (as I do not). The first is that I do not have any fixed views on the degree to which the plague was the prime mover behind the changes visible in late 2nd- and 3rd-c. Egypt. In the absence of any concerted attempt to formulate and test other hypotheses about the engines of social and economic change, it is hard to say if the degree of fit of evidence to model is impressive or not. The most obvious counter-candidate is the increased municipalization of Egypt during just this period, especially from A.D. 200 onward. It would be useful to generate a model of economic change from this force and see if it is equally capable of accounting for the evidence.

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