Megarian bowls

Relief-decorated pottery with scenes from epic poetry and from Classical Greek tragedy became more popular than painted pottery during the Hellenistic period. The name Megarian was first given to this type of mold-made relief bowl in the late nineteenth century, because some of the first known examples were said to have come from the city of Megara. It has since been demonstrated that bowls of this type, which were produced at a number of different centers, originated in Athens in the third quarter of the third century B.C.E. - Metropolitan Museum of Art

Unlike earlier, wheelmade wares with surfaces decorated only with slip, paint, and glaze, these bowls were made in stamp-decorated molds that added decoration in relief. This method of manufacture gave the vessels an embossed effect that may have been intended to imitate metalwork. The vessels were thrown on a potter's wheel while inside the mold in order to produce a smooth and even inner surface while allowing the outside to pick up the pattern of the mold clearly.  The molds themselves were made on the wheel and decorated on the interior with stamps. These bowls functioned as drinking cups and replaced the earlier kantharos shape. - Summer Trentin and Debby Sneed, University of Colorado

Such bowls depicting mythological scenes as well as floral bowls with figures like Eros were produced in the 3rd to 2nd century BCE.  In the 2nd century BCE, though, the floral and figural bowls were replaced by a more stylized type with repeated petal-like motifs referred to as "Long-Petal Bowls." 

In Italy, these thin-walled molded bowls became known as "Popilius" bowls since a number of them signed by C. Popilius have been discovered around workshops in Umbria, north of Rome on the Via Flaminia.  However, other workshops of different potters have been found in Tivoli, Cosa, and Arezzo. Some scholars point to a shift from controlled to more dramatic naturalism in their decoration.

Terracotta Megarian bowl, 2nd century B.C.E., Boeotian, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art depicting a scene from Euripides' play "Iphigenia at Aulis", a messenger, Agamemnon, who has weakened in his resolve to sacrifice his daughter to Artemis, biding his slave to take a letter to his wife, Clytemnestra, instructing her not to send her daughter to Aulis.

 

Terracotta Megarian bowl, 2nd century B.C.E., Boeotian, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art depicting a scene from Euripides' play "Iphigenia at Aulis", Agamemnon's brother, taking the letter from the messenger by force; Menelaos, with the letter in hand, blaming Agamemnon for refusing to go through with the sacrifice.

Terracotta Megarian bowl, 2nd century B.C.E., Boeotian, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art depicting a scene from Euripides' play "Iphigenia at Aulis", a messenger, bringing news to Agamemnon that Iphigenia has arrived

Terracotta Megarian bowl, 2nd century B.C.E., Boeotian, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art depicting a scene from Euripides' play "Iphigenia at Aulis", the cart that has come from Argos, bearing Queen Clytemnestra and her children, Iphigenia and the little Orestes. The story would have been continued on additional bowls.

Terracotta Megarian bowl, Greek, 165-100 BCE at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Terracotta Megarian bowl, Greek, 165-100 BCE at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Megarian bowl from a Rhodian workshop depicting scenes from the Trojan War and the Odyssey, 3d/2nd century B.C.E. at the antinkensammlung Museum in Berlin, Germany courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marcus Cyron.

Nike crowning a trophy, Poseidon, Ariadne with Dionysos supported by a satyr, and Athena with shield and spear, Terracotta Megarian bowl, 2nd century B.C.E. at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The reddish-brown glaze of this bowl suggests it was made in Asia Minor, and perhaps more specifically, Pergamon. Red-ware, as this type of pottery is called, had a relatively short period of production. It was ultimately supplanted by red-glossed Roman terra-sigillata and Arrentine pottery beginning around the middle of the 1st century B.C.E. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Relief-moulded black Megarian bowl, c. 225-175 BCE at the British Museum, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor AgTigress.

Megarian bowl With Dionysiac thiasos from ancient Epidaurus at the Archaeological Museum of Nafplion, 200-150 BCE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Zde.

Megarian bowl from a Macedonian workshop depicting the homecoming of Odysseus; 3d/2nd century B.C.E. at the Antikensammlung Museum in Berlin, Germany courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. (digitally enhanced)

If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!

Galen's hospital at Allianoi to be flooded

I was quite disturbed when I read this article in the Lebanon Daily Star.  A hospital once used by the famous second century physician Galen is being covered with sand as we speak because the government of Turkey has decided that farmers in western Turkey can't wait for archaeologists to complete excavation of the site before beginning intensive irrigation with water from a dam project built in 2007.

"...workers dump wheelbarrows of sand over the foundations of the hospital of Galen, a prominent Roman physician born in the 2nd century AD in the nearby city of Pergamon, or modern-day Bergama.

Roman remains at Allianoi.  Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Soon the thermal bath – with its five-meter-high walls and a pool still powered by a hot spring – will disappear under the sand, after being covered with a pinkish protective coating, along with buildings looking out over a columned courtyard, rooms covered with mosaics and paved walkways." - The Daily Star, Lebanon

Professor Ahmet Yaras, who has spent the last nine years excavating at Allianoi points out that this is the most complete health center from the ancient world ever found and he has only uncovered 20% of the site to date.  Besides the thermal baths, bridges,  streets, insulae, a propylon (monumental gateway) and a nympheum were all planned and built during second century CE.

Turkey's environment minister claims Allianoi is nothing more than a hot spring like many others across Turkey.  I wonder if he's ever even been there?  It looks like a site with substantial ruins to me based on this picture.  Once again it appears that a piece of our cultural heritage will become the victim of short sighted men interested only in short term profit.  The loss of this site is especially painful since modern studies have shown benefits from such irrigation systems are brief before mineral salts build up and diminish agricultural returns.

So much of what our modern physicians know about anatomy and biological systems is the result of very early studies by Galen.  It will be a pity to lose the opportunity to perhaps uncover more information about his research.

Image via Wikipedia

Galen’s principal interest was in human anatomy, but Roman law had prohibited the dissection of human cadavers since about 150 BCE. Because of this restriction, Galen performed anatomical dissections on living and dead animals, mostly focusing on pigs and primates. This work turned out to be particularly useful because in most cases, the anatomical structures of these animals closely mirror those of humans. Galen clarified the anatomy of the trachea and was the first to demonstrate that the larynx generates the voice. Galen may have understood the importance of artificial ventilation, because in one of his experiments he used bellows to inflate the lungs of a dead animal.
Among Galen’s major contributions to medicine was his work on the circulatory system. He was the first to recognize that there were distinct differences between venous (dark) and arterial (bright) blood. Although his many anatomical experiments on animal models led him to a more complete understanding of the circulatory system, nervous system, respiratory system and other structures, his work was not without scientific inaccuracies. Galen believed that the circulatory system consisted of two separate one-way systems of distribution, rather than a single unified system of circulation. His understanding was that venous blood was generated in the liver, from where it was distributed and consumed by all organs of the body. He posited that arterial blood originated in the heart, from where it was distributed and consumed by all organs of the body. The blood was then regenerated in either the liver or the heart, completing the cycle. Galen also believed in the existence of a group of blood vessels he called the rete mirabile, near the back of the human brain.Both of these theories of the circulation of blood were later shown to be incorrect. - Wikipedia

I became very interested in Galen after watching an episode about him in the History Channel series "Ancient Discoveries".  I highly recommend the program for those of you who wish to learn more about this gifted Roman citizen.

Related articles

• Allianoi Update (rogueclassicism.com)
• Roman remains at risk from Turkey's dam building (guardian.co.uk)
• The History of Early Cures & Remedies: Part Two (socyberty.com)

     

If you enjoyed this post, never miss out on future posts by following me by email!