Featured Ancient ... but not a coin! Artifacts thread! Post 'em!

Here are 2 vases. The first has one handle, and I managed to shoot it on both sides. The second is much bigger and has 2 handles, possibly an amphora but the neck is partially broken on one side. Some say they're Roman, others say they're Phoenician.

 

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Those are the choppers I want when I eat BBQ!

 

i have a set of rentals...

 

It used to be something a Greek fertility goddess I think

 

Not vases and not an amphora, but is there any chance we could get a side/profile view of each? And maybe some dimensions (height and width)? You have interesting pieces.

 

I was excited to add this beautiful Greek shard to my collection a couple weeks back. Maybe someday I'll have a complete piece. For now I'm stoked to have a "handle" on things...

Greek Pottery Shard 350 - 250 B.C. Measures 7.5"x 4.5"

 

I dunno. Are you SURE it is a handle on a pottery shard? Or was it a poor design for a helmet???

Time Bandits:





Egypt Amethyst Uninscribed Scarab 1667-1085 BCE 17x14mm Intact

 

@lrbguy .. Thanks for your concern. Of course I'll post more detailed pictures tomorrow, and possibly with some beautiful trinkles.

 

The height of the presumed amphora is 24 cm. Width : 20 cm. Mouth Diameter: 4 to 5 cm. Base diameter: 14 cm. The dimensions of the presumed vase with one handle are as follows : Height: 16 cm. Width; 13 cm. Mouth Diameter:around 3 cm. Base diameter: 11 cm. I also managed to take several photos of the "amphora" in different positions. You'll also find new items such as "circular vase", "Cup", Lamp, and Trinkles ( colored glass) with some round handcraft of other items. I feel myself a total newbie in this delicate and interesting field. Thank you..

 

Here's the base photo of the "Amphora ".

 

What you had called an 'amphora' is a jug, the style of which is common to the Syro-Palestine region of the 3rd to 4th Century AD. The other two pots are from the same area, probably Bronze Age (I'd have to look them up, but dont have the time). The lamp is the same locale, Roman from the 2nd - 3rd Century AD.

I know nada about beads, but they look Roman.

 

What he said.

But let me add a suggestion. You are killing yourself for nothing by giving us shots from above the vessels. Profile/side views and dimensions are what it takes to identify most pottery. There will always be exceptions, but for vessels like these, the side view is king. To that end I would still like to see a side view of the first bottle/jug you showed us of the two on May 4. But it would appear that all of the ware you have shown so far is Palestinian.

 

Maybe I misunderstand. I mean have I given you the side and profile of the jug above which has 2 handles and I miscalled Amphora? If not tell me how, since I'm also a perfect newbie in photography. Sorry. LOL..

 

The first pic in the group of nine was the most useful for the vessels that have any height to them. The oil lamp shots were fine for a low profile item.

I infer from picture 1 that you are using a cell phone, so getting good profile shots would mean holding the phone vertically on about the same level as the object. Tricky if it is sitting on the floor or a low table. For a lot of folks, formal dining is a thing of the past, and so is sitting at a table on a dining room chair. My son and his wife eat at a counter sitting on stools most of the time. They gave away their dining room set. But sitting with your feet under the table and the vessels ON the table will give you great perspective for profile shots of your pottery.

 

I'm using a digital camera. I'll shoot tomorrow the bottle/jug that I showed on May 4 and measure height, depth and everything. I can even weigh it. Many other items will soon be posted as budget and luck allow. For the first time in 7 years, I feel those stones will keep me away from coins. Thank you all again.
Charles

 

I shot the jug in various positions. But first, here are the dimensions :
Height: 13.5 cm. Width: 9.5 cm. Depth: 4.5 - 5 cm. Mouth Diameter: 3 cm.
Weight: 200 g.

 

These are typically called 'pilgrim flasks'. Once again from Palestine, from the Iron Age II C, 800 - 586 BC. These are notable for their decoration in the Cypriot style (but not made there, just inspired by). See Ruth Amiram, Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land, plates 93 to 95.

 

I think we are literally on the same page on this (in Amiran) however, from an earlier view I have been more inclined to associate this piece with a form from Megiddo in the Iron I period. It is right for that in terms of profile, decoration, and even fabric. What is it that makes you prefer Iron II?

But @7Calbrey this is the vessel I wanted to see in profile:

 

Just based on Amiran. This one is closest in style to Plate 94, numbers 5 and 6, the first from Samaria and the second from Hazor, both dated to that period. But if you look closely it also is a close match for Plate 95, #2, from Beth-Shemesh and dated to Iron I period. Pottery can often be a bit subjective.

 

It seems to me this vessel was shown to us in another thread several days ago, which I cannot locate. It seemed then to show the decoration a bit better than here, but this is okay.

Also from Amiran. I believe this style of decoration is more like what we see in plate 51 (for the LB period) than the style of decoration of the Iron II which tended to be sparse if painted and increasingly incised rather than painted. The decoration for numbers 4 & 5 of plate 94 is quite unlike that here, and the handles on the sketched flasks are mounted up too high and are smaller in relation to the neck than in this case. However, for handle treatment and decoration this flask has a lot in common with plate 93, #7 from Abu Hawam, and number 3,4, & 10, all from Farah. For decoration compare the flask from Farah in photo 278. Both plates 93 and 95 feature vessels from Iron I, which has more in common with the LB style of decoration (plate 51) and the prominence of the handles, if not the angle at which they attach to the neck. But as you say, it all depends upon which features catch your eye, on the object, and in the book.