• latw-205-1
    Alabaster alabastron. (Courtesy of the Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, Istanbul)

    Alabaster alabastron

    Date
    Probably fifth century BC, Late Lydian (Persian)
    Museum
    Manisa, Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum, 9082
    Museum Inventory No.
    9082
    Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
    S03.132
    Material
    Alabaster, Stone
    Object Type
    Stone Vessel
    Site
    Sardis
    Sector
    Nec
    Trench
    Tomb 03.1
    Locus
    Tomb 03.1 Locus 1
    B-Grid Coordinates
    W540 / S995
    Description
    Calcite (Egyptian alabaster) alabastron. Elongated ovoid body with round bottom; horizontal rim with rounded lip. Two small lug handles below rim. Mended from fragments, a few fragments missing. Fine lathe marks over interior and exterior surfaces. Height 0.132 m, diameter 0.044 m.
    Comments
    From the same tomb as Nos. 196-204; found near at mid-body of a skeleton, near one of the lekythoi (see Baughan, “Lydian Burial Customs”). The alabastron was named after the most typical material from which they are made (or vice-versa, the stone named after the vessel). It originated in Egypt, but became popular throughout Anatolia and Greece from the seventh through the fourth centuries BC. In addition to examples made from this translucent stone, the same shape was copied in pottery and, occasionally, in silver and other materials; four silver examples were found in tombs near Güre (Özgen, “The Lydian Treasure”). As a container for perfumed oils it was probably functionally equivalent to, but of much greater prestige than, the ceramic lekythoi placed as an offering on the couch opposite (No. 203).
    See Also
    Baughan, “Lydian Burial Customs”.
    Bibliography
    Greenewalt 2005, 82-3; Roosevelt 2008; forthcoming study by Susanne Ebbinghaus.
    Author
    NDC