2017.10

Unguentarium

On loan from Professor Graeme Clarke AO FAHA, co-director of excavations at Jebel Khalid, Syria.

Height:18cm; Width: 7.5cm

Bought in Syria.          

Unguentaria, sometimes referred to as balsamaria or (misleadingly) lacrimaria, are small ceramic or glass bottles most commonly found in funerary contexts, and were perhaps used as ritual offerings. They were not, however, used exclusively for funerary rites and have been found in domestic and public spaces and were used as vessels for everyday use and religious offerings.

This particular unguentarium has a fusiform shape which is characteristic of Hellenistic unguentaria. The fusiform unguentarium has an ovoid body, a long tubular neck and a small distinct ring foot and is comparable in form to a spindle. This unguentarium was most likely found in a grave as mud has settled onto one side. 

Their most common use was as a container for oil or perfume, but unguentaria could also be used to store and dispense various liquids such as wine or honey and powdered substances such as cosmetics or incense. The unguentarium's closed shape and narrow mouth are better suited for a container of liquid rather than for solid perfume or unguent, which would have required either the neck to be broken off or a long-handled spoon to extract the contents. The small opening would have allowed contents, like honey or wine, to be poured out slowly.

Exactly how unguentaria functioned remains unknown as no clear reference to their use in ancient literature can be identified. Grave reliefs reveal that they were used as offerings, but they had their uses in domestic and retail spaces as well. There is some debate about whether the unguentaria that were used for funerals were the same kind as were used in domestic and retail spaces as the unguentaria found in graves are usually of poor quality. 

V. R. Anderson-Stojanović, ‘The Chronology and Function of Ceramic Unguentaria’, American Journal of Archaeology 91.1, 1987, 105-122