|
Bulletin Amphorique /
A critical chronicle on amphora studies
|
Bulletin Amphorique - Reviews on line
| | We will post the reviews in their order of arrival. This chronicle will allow one to read directly the latest reviews while still have access to the totality of the information. | | 13 reviews on line |
|
|
| Orhan U. (2023) ‘Phaselis'te Yeni Bir Amphora/Seramik Üretim Alanı: Bulgu ve Buluntuların Değerlendirilmesi’ [‘A New Amphora and Pottery Production Area in Phaselis: Evaluation of Discoveries and Finds’] Cedrus XI, 35-46. |
| In this article, the amphora production areas identified during the studies carried out in the ancient city of Phaselis are presented. In this context, the Hellenistic Temple Area on the northwestern slope of the city and the area around the Central Tower to the north of this area were identified as two important production areas. The large number of kiln bricks, amorphous material and slag wastes found in both areas led to the interpretation of the region as a production area. The slagged finds recovered from these production areas prove that commercial amphora production was also carried out in addition to ceramic production. Petrographic and chemical (PED-XRF) analyses of these finds documented with photographs and drawings, as well as comparisons with clay samples taken from the lagoon area to the south of the production areas, leave no doubt as to the place of production of these samples. The amphorae mostly contains ultrabasic rock fragments, serpentine, pyroxene and coarse iron oxide-hematite fragments. In the article, the Phaselis Type 3b forms, which are suggested to have been produced in the last two quarters of the 4th century BC, are not presented, except for three pedestal photographs and a pedestal drawing in fig. 8c, and reference is made to the author's recently published book. If complete examples of these forms were presented in the article, it would also facilitate the identification of these amphorae in order to determine their distribution areas in consumption centres.
The fact that the Hellenistic Temple Area continued its production from the beginning of the 5th century BC until the last quarter of the 4th century BC, and that the production in the Production Area around the Central Tower continued from the middle of the 4th century BC until the end of the 3rd century BC shows that these two areas were used consecutively. It is suggested that this situation may be related to the lagoon whose waters are thought to rise from time to time.
|
| RBA0013AKS |
|
|
| Japp, S. (2018) ‘Transport Amphorae in Pergamon - International, Regional, Local?’ Skyllis 18 1, 100-106
Pdf var ! |
| In this article, Japp suggests that the amount of imported amphorae recovered from the city of Pergamon, which has been excavated since the last quarter of the 19th century, is not directly proportional to the city's reputation in the Hellenistic Period, and that one of the reasons for this is that the amphorae may have been unloaded in the city's port of Elaia and nearby ports such as Kane and Pitane and delivered to the city with local amphorae. Supporting this view with the density of local amphorae found in the city, the researcher has also provided data on the diversity of the city's amphora imports in previous studies. Accordingly, in addition to the products of all the important producers of the Hellenistic period, Pergamon also received products from cities such as Sinope and Khersonessos on the Black Sea. It is understood that this continued to expand during the Roman imperial period and that imports from many parts of the Mediterranean were realised until the 4th century AD. Japp also mentions the high number of Käpitan II amphorae among these products and draws attention to the changes in the settlement areas of the city according to the periods. In the last part of the article, the local amphora production of the city, which is known as an important ceramic producer, is discussed. The author states that some of the forms referred to as Pergamon amphorae in previous excavations may have been produced in the region since the 2nd century BC and that similar forms were also produced in centres such as Erythrai. She also mentions that the narrow-necked amphorae photographed in figs. 2 and 3, the opinion that narrow-necked amphorae were produced in the region has been proven by XRF analyses and will be published. In the article, the development of the Ephesian Micaceous Waterjars is discussed and it is stated that early versions of this form have been found in Pergamon. Japp suggests that three different sub-groups of these amphorae were produced at Pergamon between the 2nd and 4th centuries, group 1 having a high and bulging neck and a single handle (fig. 5), group 2 having a short and bulging neck, rounded rim and knob-like base (fig. 6a,b), while the 3rd group, which was recovered in smaller numbers, has a thin-walled neck with no bulge and a solid base (fig. 7a,b). Japp states that the last group was dated to the 4th century in the Athenian Agora, while the 1st and 2nd groups were found in nearby excavations such as Aigai and Kyme, but they have different clay structures, and that XRF analyses indicate that Gryneion may be among the candidates for producer cities besides Pergamon. |
| RBA0012AKS |
|
|
| Alkaç, E. and Tepebaş, U. (2020) ‘The Gem Stamp on the Handle of a Mushroom-rimmed Amphora from Knidos: An Assessment of the Centauromachy in Terms of Stamps and Iconography’, Adalya 23, 239-52.
|
| Found in 1973 during the excavations of the Byzantine E Church of the Western Harbour of Knidos, the gem stamp on the handle of an amphora with preserved mushrom rim is the subject of this article by Alkaç and Tepebaş. Generally, gem stamps are encountered on a small number of examples of mushroom-rimmed amphorae, which are suggested to have been produced in Western Anatolia and some Aegean islands in antiquity. On this amphora handle from Knidos, a scene of the Lapith-Kentaur (kentauromachia) fight was represented. The stamped handle is dated to the second half of the 4th century BC based on the preserved form of the amphora.
In this article, the characteristics of the mushroom-rimmed amphorae produced in various centres are discussed, and a comparison is made between the examples found in various centres and the Knidos find. The Kentauromachia on the gem stamp is analysed iconographically, and other artefacts with similar scenes are briefly mentioned. In conclusion, it is suggested that the amphora may have been produced in or around Knidos, taking into account its form and clay characteristics, and that the workshop may have used the gem stamp with this mythological scene to convey a message about the high quality of the product inside the amphora. (GCS)
|
| RBA0011GCS |
|
|
| Dündar, E. (2017) ‘Patara 4.3: Transport Jars and Stamped Amphoras from Patara, 7th to 1st Centuries BC: The Maritime Trade of a Harbor City in Lycia’ (Istanbul) |
| In this publication Dündar presents the commercial amphorae and amphora stamps recovered during the excavations in Patara. The first two chapters of the book provide a general summary of the political and commercial development of the city and the importance of amphorae in trade. In Chapter III, information on the amphorae dating from the 7th century BC to the 1st century BC is given and the body, base, handle, etc. fragments of these amphorae found in the city are presented according to their origin. Accordingly, fragments belonging to the amphorae of Chios, Klazomenai, Lesbos, Samos, Ionia β (Zeest-Samos), Korinth/Korkyra, Thasos, Mende, Kos, Knidos, Rhodes, Rhodian Peraea, Nikandros Group and Cyprus were found in the city. Some of the mushroom rimmed amphorae were identified as South Aegean production. In addition to some finds of unidentified origin, Lycian amphorae were also identified for the first time (cf. Orhan 2023, pp. 47-60).
At Patara, the largest group dating to the 7th-6th centuries BC consists of amphorae from Chios (p. 77, Graphic 1). This is followed by the amphorae from Klazomenai, Lesbos, Samos, Ionia β (Zeest-Samos), Corinth/Corcyra. During the 5th-4th centuries BC, local amphorae produced in Lycia come to the fore. This is again followed by amphorae from Chios, Mende, then Kos, Korinth/Korkyra, Thasos and Samos (p. 78, Graphic 2).
In the 3rd-1st centuries BC, there is a predominance of amphorae of Rhodes. This is followed by Knidos, Rhodian Peraea, South Aegean mushroom amphorae, Cyprus, Chios, Thasos, Kos Nikandros Group and Lesbos. 7% amphora fragments could not be classified (p. 78, Graphic 3).
When all the amphorae found in the city from the 7th century BC to the 1st century BC are evaluated, a slight decrease is observed from the 7th-6th centuries BC to the 5th-4th centuries BC, while a great increase is observed probably from the Early Hellenistic Period to the 1st century BC (p. 78, Graphic 4).
Chapter V of the book deals with amphora stamps according to their origin. With 342 examples, Rhodian amphora stamps constitute the largest group. It is not clear whether the first stamp, which is analysed under the title "eponyms" and bears an amphora device and the monograms alpha and omikron or theta, belongs to an eponym or a fabricant. The other stamps bearing the name of an eponym are listed according to the periods of the Rhodian stamp chronology. There are 112 legible Rhodian eponym stamps, followed by 144 legible fabricant dies published in the same order. There are also 85 illegible stamps dated according to the periods. In Rhodian Peraea, there are mainly seals belonging to amphorae produced by the workshop of Hieroteles, but 25 stamps, 18 of which can be restored, are thought to belong to other workshops in the Peraea. The stamps of Rhodian and Peraean amphorae are compared with the stamps published in Lexicon 1-4 and online at amphoralex.org, and the matrix numbers are given for identical seals. New dies are also indicated.
The earliest examples of amphora stamps produced in Knidos are those with a prow device and monograms. Stamps bearing abbreviations are found in the city, followed by stamps belonging to the Zenon A and B Groups. All Knidian stamps are also arranged according to the Knidian chronological periods, but except for a few examples, there are no KT numbers. Almost half of the total 111 Knidian dies are legible. However, apart from these, many unepigraphic stamps dating to the 1st century BC were encountered. They bear various symbols such as an amphora, bunch of grapes, vine leaf (p. 338, Cat. No. Kn. 81 and probably Kn. 82 should be a vine leaf), circle incus, prow, etc. At Kn. 102 the device should also be a vine leaf. There are 8 examples of Cypriot amphorae. Some of them bear Greek and some Cypriote syllabary inscriptions (abbreviations or monograms).
There are 2 stamps each from Thasos, Kos and Chios ; 1 stamp each from Nikandros and Parmeniskos Group amphorae. 9 stamps have not been classified. Chapter VI contains an evaluation of the stamped amphorae found in Patara, numerous graphs and tables, and a detailed discussion of the finds from Rhodes and Knidos of which many examples have been identified. Chapter VII contains a chronological evaluation of the amphorae found in the city, the place of Lycia in Mediterranean trade, and Chapter VIII includes archeometric analyses of the amphora fragments recorded in the city. (GCS)
|
| RBA0010GCS |
|
|
| Lawall, M.L. (2018) ‘Amphoras of Asia Minor, 800-100 B.C. Progress and Challenges’ Skyllis 18 1 11-19 |
| In the first lecture of the International Colloquium, Amphoras in Need of Archaeology and Archaeometry, Lawall presented a summary of amphora and stamp studies from the mid-1980s to the first decade of the twenty-first century. He continued with a valuable introduction to the efforts of V. R. Grace, the founder of a systematics in the study of amphorae, and drew attention to the progress made in the identification of typologies and production regions thanks to the new data provided by the papers presented at the symposiums. In the second part of the paper, however, it formulates ideas on the importance of both the work to be carried out with the help of analyses to determine provenance and the chronological gaps to be narrowed by reassessing contextual and stratigraphic data. The article also discusses examples of regional production, especially mushroom-rim amphorae, and suggests that they were produced in many regions and that suggestions can be made on the question of origin with the help of clay analyses. Lawall also emphasised the contribution of recent publications on amphorae from the Black Sea basin to the advancement of amphora studies.
In the study, which also discusses guiding perspectives for future studies, Lawall underlines that the correct evaluation of these packaging materials should be placed within the framework of historical events and context in order to reveal sections of economic history. For this purpose, he insists on the importance of identification in both qualitative and quantitative studies, noting that we are only at the beginning of provenance studies and that it is imperative to take into account the different productions of different regions. In this presentation, Lawall explains that amphora and stamp studies are common data of economic history and that in the evaluation of these data, it should not be forgotten that they are traces of human economic activities.(AKS) |
| RBA0009AKS |
|
|
| Alkaç, E. (2019) ‘Knidos Kazılarında Bulunan Amphora Mühürleri Üzerine İlk
Değerlendirmeler’ [‘First Evaluations on Amphora Stamps Found in Knidos Excavations‘] Arkhaia Anatolika, Anadolu Arkeolojisi Araştırmaları Dergisi [ The Journal of Anatolian Archaeological Studies] 2, 84-101 |
| In this publication, Alkaç E. provides an overview of the amphora stamps recovered during the excavations at Knidos. It is stated that a total of 1031 stamped handles were recovered in the city during the excavations and that their origins are Khersonessos, Sinope, Akanthos-Amphipolis, Thasos, Miletos, Khios, Kos, Rhodes, Rhodian Peraea, Egypt, Kyrenaika, Knidos and Nikandros, Parmeniskos Groups. In the study, the statistical data on the numerical distribution of the stamped handles of amphorae found in the city, almost all of which date to the Hellenistic Period, reveal that following the stamped handles belonging to Knidos amphorae (846 pieces), those of Rhodian origin (126 pieces) were recovered the most. This is followed by Rhodian Peraea (18) and Thasos (14). There is one example from each of the above mentioned centres. Two stamped handles from the Black Sea centres of Sinope and Khersonessos were found. In addition to the 7 examples of unidentified origin, one stamp was identified as belonging to the LRA2-13 amphora. A more detailed study on Rhodian amphora stamps and a table containing the distribution of eponym and fabricant stamps found at Knidos according to the Rhodian Chronological Periods are presented. A similar study was carried out for the stamps of Knidos and the eponym stamps are listed according to the Knidian Chronological Periods. A list of duoviri is also included. The restored Knidian stamped handles recovered in the city are dated to Period VI, VII, V, I-II, IV, III in order of their numerical density. Inscriptions on 85 stamps could not be restored.(GCS)
|
| RBA0008GCS |
|
|
| Çağnis, P. (2021) ‘Trade Relations between Byzantion and the Black Sea Region in the Hellenistic Period: An Assessment through Recently Found Amphora Stamps’ Adalya 24, 101-22
|
| Çağnis, P., discussed the amphora stamps recovered during the recent excavations on both sides of Istanbul. The stamps belonging to amphorae of Black Sea that reached the Hellenistic city of Byzantion during the excavations carried out between the years 2004 and 2012 within the scope of the Marmaray Project are presented. Accordingly, 51 of the 73 stamped handles were identified as Sinopean and 22 as Khersonesean. The amphora stamps prove the presence of Sinopean amphorae dating to 333-280 BC and Chersonesean amphorae dating to 325-285 BC in the city and the commercial connection between Byzantion and these two centres between these dates in the Hellenistic Period.(GCS) |
| RBA0007GCS |
|
|
| Coşkun, G. and Alkaç, E. (2020) ‘Seyitömer Höyük’de ele geçen mühürlü amphora kulpları’ ['Stamped amphora handles recovered from Seyitömer Höyük'], Olba 28, 243–62 |
| Coşkun, G. and Alkaç, E. have analysed 7 amphora stamps recovered from Hellenistic Period levels during the excavations at Seyitömer Höyük near the modern city Kütahya, located in the Phrygia Epiktetis region in antiquity. 4 of these are from Thasos (one of the stamps is a previously published one. See Darga 2006, pp. 242-243, 248, figs. 13-14), 2 from Rhodes and 1 from Khios. The first of the legible Thasian amphora stamps belongs to the eponym Νύμφων Κλεο( and dates to c. 255-c. 242 BC. The other stamp bears the name of Ἀσκληπιάδης, whose function cannot be determined. Of the Rhodian amphora stamps, one belongs to the eponym Ξενόφαντος Ι, in office c. 210 BC, and the other to the fabricant Ἡράκλειτος II, dated to Periods IIId-IVb. The only stamp from Khios bears the abbreviated name Καλλικρ[α]( and dates to the 2nd century BC. (GCS)
|
| RBA0006GCS |
|
|
| DoksanaltıKaraoğlanZoroğlu2019_Doksanaltı, E.M., Karaoğlan, I. and Zoroğlu C. (2019) ‘The Small Knidian Amphora Types’ Herom 8, 295-328 |
| Doksanaltı, Karaoğlan and Zoroğlu publish a typology of small Cnidian amphorae recovered from various graves in the necropolis of the ancient city of Cnidus. In the introduction of the publication, the production of amphorae in Cnidus and the development of the form of the amphorae produced there are described. The miniature amphorae that are the subject of the article are divided into three sub-groups and dated with the help of other finds from the graves. Although the use of amphorae in funerary rituals and as gifts for the dead is quite common, it is concluded that, with a few exceptions, Cnidian small scaled amphorae were not used in graves outside the city. In the typology proposed in the article, catalogue no. 7, fig. 11 is called small scaled type B in the typology proposed in the article, but it does not conform in form to the proposed series and should be distinguished from this group by its higher handle, neck and body structure. In addition, although it is suggested that the group classified as Type C bears similarities with Zenon-type amphorae, its smaller size than the Zenon-type amphorae recovered from the Hellenistic Shipwreck at Serçelimanı and its formal peculiarities necessitated a different evaluation of this sub-group. The authors suggest that this sub-group, which is dated to the last quarter of the 3rd century BC, may have been produced for special occasions such as grave gifts instead of export, as suggested for the other two groups. The study also includes the observations of the researchers on the clay characteristics of small-sized Cnidian amphorae. The presentation of chemical and petrographic analyses of these little known examples of miniature amphorae would be an approach to conclude the debate on their origins.(AKS) |
| RBA0005AKS |
|
|
| Madkour, H. (2018) ‘New Light on the Chronology of Ptolemais Hermiou through Hellenistic Stamped Amphora Handles Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 207, 73-88 |
| Madkour, H. publishes 19 amphora stamps from the city of Ptolemais in Upper Egypt (modern el-Mansha), discovered during excavations by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) in 1989-1990. As in the rest of the country, a high proportion of Rhodian stamps, 18 compared with 1 Knidian and one Koan. The meticulous publication is illustrated with a photo and a facsimile of each stamp, with a profile of the handle. The chronological spectrum covers just over a century, from the second half of the 3rd c. to the end of the 2nd c. BC (periods IIa to V). Note two stamps of the same eponym, Anaxiboulos, 141-140 BC and two examples from the same die of fabricant Mènodôros I, circular with central rose (around the middle of the 2nd c BC), as well as a probable Rhodian pair with the maker Menôn I in the month of Panamos to be associated with the eponym Aristeidas I, both circular stamps with central rose without separating line between symbol and inscription, 222 BC according to Finkielsztejn 2021b, 206. All these eponyms and makers are already attested in Egypt, notably in Fayoum and, of course, Alexandria.
An index completes the study, but the name of the Knidian fabricant Δράκων needs to be completed and the use of a unicode Greek font systematised.(JYE) |
| RBA0004JYE |
|
|
| Cankardeş-Şenol, G. (2023) ‘Stamped amphora handles’ in M.F. Boussac, O. Callot and P. Georges-Zimmerman (eds) La nécropole hellénistique de Plinthine, IFAO 2023, 505-09
|
| Cankardeş-Şenol, G. publishes 7 Rhodian amphora stamps from excavations in the Plinthine necropolis, including 4 eponym stamps and 2 fabricant stamps indicating a presence since the first half of the 2nd century BC. Two stamps from the end of the 2nd century BC, were uncovered in a test pit, one of the fabricant Mousaios and the other of the eponym Aristopolis, which appears for the first time with the secondary stamp ΕΥ, linking him to the fabricant Midas.
One of the tombs contains a complete stamped amphora from Lesbos, dating from the 3rd century BC. BC, it bears the letter M in a circular mark. (JYE) |
| RBA0003JYE |
|
|
| Cankardeş-Şenol, G. (2019b), in P. Ballet, Fr. Béguin, G. Lecuyot and A. Schmitt, Tell el-Faraʿîn-Buto, VI. Recherches sur les ateliers romains de Bouto. Prospections et sondages (2001-2006) DAI-Abteilung Kairo, archäologische Veröffentlichungen, 110, 246-50 |
| Cankardeş-Şenol, G. publishes 10 amphora stamps, mainly from the second half of the 2nd century BC, uncovered during excavations carried out by the University of Poitiers at an important site in the Egyptian delta: 8 amphora stamps from Rhodes and 2 from Brindes, following a mixture common in Hellenistic Egypt (JYE) |
| RBA0002JYE |
|
|
| Alkaç, E. and Ceylan F. (2022) ‘Thasian and Rhodian Stamped Amphorae from Edirne Archaeology and Ethnography Museum’ Gephyra 23, 185-96
|
| Alkaç, E. and Ceylan F. publish five complete stamped amphorae from the Edirne Museum: three Thasian amphorae from the 4th and early 3rd c. BC as well as two Rhodian amphorae: one of the fabricant Ἴων dated by the eponym Τιμο( to the early 3rd century BC and the other bearing illegible circular rose stamps dated by the authors to the second half of the 2nd c. BC (JYE) |
| RBA0001JYE |
|
|
|
