Eschara (Antikensammlung Berlin VI 4563)
The Eschara in the Berlin Collection of Antiquities with the inventory number VI 4563 is a ceramic sacrificial tube from the island of Rhodes . It is unusual both in shape and decoration and a unique piece in combination. Based on comparisons, this vessel is of the late Geometric style in the second half of the 8th century. v. Dated.
description
This eschara is a tubular vessel that is slightly warped to the right. It consists of three concave parts of different heights. Both the mouth and the foot are flat and drawn outwards. The ribbon handles are located in the middle part of the vessel, they start there and are led to about the middle of the middle third of the vase. The plastic jewelry is also very noticeable. In addition to the attachment points of the handle, a wart-shaped elevation is worked out on both sides above and below. This is followed by three-dimensional snakes next to these warts on the front and back, each winding upwards in three arcs. The left-facing heads with the raised eyes are rounded, and the forked tongues are sculptured. Only the snake on the left back has a painted, line-shaped tongue. The tapered tails end at the heel of the middle vase piece. Five birds are modeled on the heel of the front of the upper part. Three of the carefully crafted birds are still largely preserved, two of which have their upper bodies missing. Remnants of clay and traces of breakage on the back suggest that there were also four modeled birds here, but these have not been preserved.
A band of black varnish is painted on the edge of the foot , over it again stripes on both sides of two circumferential wavy bands. The ensemble is bordered by another black stripe. The upper part of the lower third is completely covered in black varnish. The center piece starts at the bottom with two more black stripes. Between the snakes there are two rectangular fields on the front and back. They are each filled with two hatched battlements running in different directions. On the front there is also a dividing center line running from top to bottom, which is missing on the back. This creates the impression of a door, especially on the front. The snake's bodies are decorated with horizontal lines, eyes and tongues are additionally highlighted with varnish. The handle is bordered by lines and decorated with further vertical stripes. Under the handle, the areas between the strips are filled with dots. Another wavy line follows at the upper edge, which is bordered by an upper and a lower black stripe. The edge between the middle and upper part is also painted with a black band. Groups of lines can be found under or in front of the birds' feet. Some of them are connected to one another by stripes, one by a zigzag line. The birds are also decorated with zigzag lines between strips. The eyes and the sharp beaks are specially painted. There are three circumferential stripes over the birds, the underside and edge of the mouth are again covered in black varnish.
The eschara has a height of 27.5 to 28.2 centimeters. At the mouth it has a diameter of 14.6 centimeters, at the upper heel 15.2, at the lower heel 14.4 and at the foot 15.4 centimeters. The handles are 2.9 and 3.1 centimeters wide. The vase weighs 1.6 kilograms and has a capacity of 2.4 liters. The brown-gray tone has small dark and white inclusions, the surface appears light brown-gray, the painting is dark brown-gray. The vessel has opened. Several shards had to be added to the foot and the break points had to be covered with plaster of paris. Small gaps in the foot, mouth and shoulder were also filled with plaster of paris. On the surface there are multiple flakes and sinter residues . The painting is rubbed off or peeled off in many places.
interpretation
The designation as eschara is widely accepted, although the term generally refers to a more open, flatter vase shape in a bowl rather than a tube shape. Robert Zahn showed the derivation of such sacrificial tubes from Bronze Age models from Crete , while Knud Friis Johansen believes in models from the Syro-Cypriot area. Thus it would be safe to use it for ritual sacrifices in sanctuaries or in grave cults. To this day, there are no comparable pieces for the shape and decor of the Berlin Eschara. There are comparative pieces of other vase shapes for applied snakes from Thessaloniki , Myrina and Samos as well as comparative pieces with birds. Very similar birds are found on an oinochoe found in Exochi , Rhodes . This comparative piece is also important for the dating of the Eschara to the second half of the 8th century BC. BC, i.e. in the late Geometric period. Snakes are seldom found on Rhodian vessels, the painted decorative element similar to a door is unique.
literature
- Plate 51, 1-4. Appendix 18, 1st Eschara. In: Christiane Dehl-von Kaenel : Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum Germany , Volume 85, Berlin 10. CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-57839-7
Remarks
- ↑ Robert Zahn: Cult device from Rhodes. In: Karl Frederik Kinch : Fouilles de Vroulia (Rhodes). Reimer, Berlin 1914, pp. 26–34, here: p. 31 ff.
- ↑ K. Friis Johansen: Exochi. An early-modern burial ground. In: Acta Archaeologica 28, 1957 (1958), p. 1 ff.
- ↑ From grave X, inventory number 12456; see K. Friis Johansen: Exochi. An early-modern burial ground. In: Acta Archaeologica 28, 1957 (1958), p. 1 ff.