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- FIRST PERIOD EAST MEDITERRANEAN COMMERCIAL AMPHORAS - 2 - |
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| "You know all the laws of Hammurabi,
but still you don't know how to use your mobile phone', said my
wife. "You're right', I replied. 'I canm't find time to read the
guide book.' Pointing the book I was reading, she said 'but you can
find time to read those'. I said those were different. The book I had been reading was 'Wine and Grape in Anatolian in the Hittite era', by Ord.Prof.Dr. Sedat ALP. My wife came and sat near me. I read her 'The wine types noted down on plates with cuneiform writing by the people living here around BC 3000 are as follows; Gestin Gibilk: New fresh wine Gestin Libir Ro: Old wine Gestin em sü: Sour wine Gestin Ku: Sweet wine Gestin SO: Red wine |
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My wife said 'The Hittites were really great and I'm sure now you
rae curious about the amphoras in which they kept wine'. Well, since the Hittites were not seamen, they didn't have any amphora forms of their own, but their contemporary Egypt had wonderful amphoras as a result of trading overseas. The historian, Herodot relates that after they were emptied, every kind f amphora that came to Egypt, was used to carry water in the desert and in the country. We also know that some amphoras were filled with pitch and tar and then were sent to other countries. Many amphoras belonging to different eras were found to be filled with pitch. |
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On the wall sphinxs of Pyramids and in the pictures on the pharaah
coffins concerning the daily life, (BC 1600-1500), the first Egypt
amphoras were drawn in a form narrowing from top to the bottom. They had no necks or short necks and there were two small handles on the upper part. This form of Egypt amphoras are similar to the egg shaped Troya amphoras in BC 3000, but the most significant difference between them are the larger handles and the mouth forms. Kenaan and Phoenicia amphoras are egg shaped, too and they have small handless. It's interesting that even today, in the region between Hatay and Suriye, amphoras similar to old era amphoras are used to keep butter. At the beginning of Archaic era, around BC 7-6, developing oversea trading and colonial bazaars gained an important statue for the Greek commercial amphoras among the East Mediterranean amphoras and after this started the era of Greek amphoras that will go on almost a thousand years in the East Mediterranean. The Hegemony of Greek Amphoras in the East Mediterranean. The first Greek amphoras were small, flattened and sphere shaped in the middle parts. |
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| The most significant examples of these are (BC 8-5) Sos, Karihthos and Milet amphoras. The Greek were effected by Egypt, Syrian, and Anatolian cultures which they consumed and developed. In the classical and Hellenistic eras, they carried their own culter to those countries by trade and art. Their amphora forms weren't effected even by the Pers invasion of Anatolia in BC.5, but in those ages, there was much development in the islands' amphoras. Samao, Chios, Lesbo, Thasos, Cos, Rodos, Knidos amphoras are the most famous of the island amphoras. | ||
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