An unguentarium ( pl. : unguentaria ), also referred to as balsamarium ( pl. : balsamarii ), lacrimarium ( pl. : lacrimarii ) or tears vessel , is a small ceramic or glass bottle found frequently by archaeologists at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries. Its most common use was probably as a container for oil, though it is also suited for storing and dispensing liquid and powdered substances. Some finds date into the early Christian era. From the 2nd to the 6th century they are more often made of blown glass rather than clay . A few examples are silver or alabaster .
50-520: Unguentaria were used as product packaging in commerce and for funerary practice. They are distributed throughout the Mediterranean region of the Roman Empire from Israel to Spain , and north into Britain and Germania . Their manufacture was nearly as widespread. The term unguentarium is functional rather than descriptive; that is, it refers to the purpose for which this relatively small vessel
100-496: A distinctive conical body, flared like the bell of a trumpet , or are squat and rounded with a very long neck; they come in a range of colors including aquamarine, pale green, and yellowish green, or may be colorless. This shape was popular in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and is also characteristic of Thrace and Cyprus . Glass bird-shaped containers for cosmetics found at various Roman sites from Herculaneum to Spain have also been called unguentaria. In these examples, dating from
150-537: A female child, contained an unguentarium, earrings, a blue glass pendant, and six knucklebones. Gold leaves and unguentaria were the grave gifts in a burial chamber at Kourion in Cyprus . At Amisos (modern Samsun ) in the Black Sea region of Turkey , the grave goods in the early Hellenistic tomb of a wealthy family were exceptionally rich and of outstanding workmanship, but the unguentaria were plain and made of clay. One of
200-461: A glass fusiform unguentarium from 1st-century Syria , a little over six inches tall, has a white spiral curling around the cerulean body. The base comes to an elongated, rounded point, and the lip is well-formed and prominent. Techniques of " marbling ," intended to emulate fashionably extravagant vessels made of sardonyx during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius , were used for unguentaria as well as bowls. An exceptionally elaborate unguentarium
250-549: A poem by Frank Dempster Sherman (1860-1916) called " A Tear Bottle. " which reference Greek Girl Tears, alluding to the role that the tear bottle played during Greek times Anderson-Stojanovic, Virginia R. "The Chronology and Function of Ceramic Unguentaria." American Journal of Archaeology 91 (1987) 105–122. Fleming, Stuart James. Roman Glass : Reflections on Cultural Change. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology , 1999. ISBN 0-924171-73-1 Khairy, Nabil I. " Nabataean Piriform Unguentaria." Bulletin of
300-404: A stone cosmetics palette, strigils , tweezers and a pyxis , and in another, with a pyxis, mirror, bronze scissors and tongs. Gravestones from Anatolia depict the deceased with a similar group of objects, including mirror, comb, boxes and cistai , wool basket, and unguentaria. One Athenian burial produced five bulbous unguentaria along with five knucklebones and a bronze needle; another, of
350-448: A support, but they would also fit well in the palm of the hand, as shown in this Egyptian mummy portrait . Ritual dispensing, rather than long-term storage, might explain both the lack of durability needed for use in daily life and the absence of stands, stoppers or seals. There is no standard assemblage of grave goods for which an unguentarium was required. Unguentaria often appear among articles for personal grooming; in one example, with
400-524: A varied and contrasting topography. The Mediterranean region offers an ever-changing landscape of high mountains, rocky shores, impenetrable scrub, semi-arid steppes, coastal wetlands, sandy beaches and a myriad of islands of various shapes and sizes dotted amidst the clear blue sea. Contrary to the classic sandy beach images portrayed in most tourist brochures, the Mediterranean is surprisingly hilly. Mountains can be seen from almost anywhere. By definition,
450-495: Is home to a number of plant communities, which vary with rainfall, elevation, latitude, and soil. The Mediterranean basin is home to considerable biodiversity , including 22,500 endemic vascular plant species . Conservation International designates the region as a biodiversity hotspot , because of its rich biodiversity and its threatened status. The Mediterranean basin has an area of 2,085,292 km , of which only 98,009 km remains undisturbed. Endangered mammals of
500-434: Is thought to have been used and is not typological by shape . In its early development, the shape was modeled in miniature after larger amphoras , which would have been the original bulk shipping containers for products sold in the unguentaria. An unguentarium is not always distinguished in the scholarly literature from an ampulla , a term from antiquity that may refer to these as well as other small vessels. In scholarship of
550-1721: The American Schools of Oriental Research 240 (1980) 85–91. Robinson, Henry S. "Pottery of the Roman Period: Chronology." In The Athenian Agora , vol. 5. American School of Classical Studies at Athens , 1959. Pérez-Arantegui, Josefina, with Juan Ángel Paz-Peralta and Esperanza Ortiz-Palomar. "Analysis of the Products Contained in Two Roman Glass unguentaria from the Colony of Celsa (Spain)." Journal of Archaeological Science 23 (1996) 649–655. Rotroff, Susan I. "Hellenistic Pottery: Athenian and Imported Wheelmade Table Ware and Related Material," part 1: text. The Athenian Agora 29 (1997) iii–575. ISBN 0-87661-229-X (full text online ). Rotroff, Susan I. "Fusiform Unguentaria." In "Hellenistic Pottery: The Plain Wares." The Athenian Agora 33 (2006), pp. 137–160. ISBN 0-87661-233-8 (full text online ). Thompson, Homer A. "Two Centuries of Hellenistic Pottery." Hesperia 4 (1934) 311–476. Edited by Susan I. Rotroff and reprinted with other essays in Hellenistic Pottery and Terracottas ( American School of Classical Studies at Athens , 1987). ISBN 0-87661-944-8 [REDACTED] Media related to Unguentaria at Wikimedia Commons Mediterranean Basin In biogeography ,
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#1733085194120600-577: The Atlas Mountains . In the eastern Mediterranean the Sahara extends to the southern shore of the Mediterranean, with the exception of the northern fringe of the peninsula of Cyrenaica in Libya , which has a dry Mediterranean climate. Europe lies to the north of the Mediterranean. The European portion of the Mediterranean basin loosely corresponds to Southern Europe . The three large Southern European peninsulas,
650-769: The Black Sea coast of northeastern Anatolia , the southern coast of Crimea between Sevastopol and Feodosiya in Ukraine and the Black Sea coast between Anapa and Tuapse in Russia forms the Mediterranean floristic region , which belongs to the Tethyan Subkingdom of the Boreal Kingdom and is enclosed between the Circumboreal , Irano-Turanian , Saharo-Arabian and Macaronesian floristic regions . The Mediterranean region
700-676: The Cairo Geniza documents was another important contribution in the area of Mediterranean Jewish culture. Wheat is the dominant grain grown around the Mediterranean basin. Pulses and vegetables are also grown. The characteristic tree crop is the olive . Figs are another important fruit tree, and citrus , especially lemons , are grown where irrigation is present. Grapes are an important vine crop, grown for fruit and to make wine . Rice and summer vegetables are grown in irrigated areas. Solid perfume Solid perfumes or cream perfumes are perfumes in solid state rather than
750-617: The Ebro valley in Spain showed that they were likely cosmetics, but similar ingredients are found in therapeutic recipes. The name "unguentarium" may be misleading, as solid unguents , or ointments , would be difficult to remove through the narrow neck. There is little or no evidence of how the contents were prevented from spilling, as no corks, wax or clay seals, or lead stoppers have been found with unguentaria as they have with other vessels. The manufacture of unguentaria seems to occur in conjunction with
800-842: The Iberian Peninsula , Italian Peninsula , and the Balkan Peninsula , extend into and comprise much of the Mediterranean-climate zone. A system of folded mountains, including the Pyrenees dividing Spain from France , the Alps dividing Italy from Central Europe , the Dinaric Alps along the eastern Adriatic , and the Balkan and Rila - Rhodope mountains of the Balkan Peninsula divide
850-493: The Mediterranean basin ( / ˌ m ɛ d ɪ t ə ˈ r eɪ n i ən / MED -ih-tə- RAY -nee-ən ), also known as the Mediterranean region or sometimes Mediterranea , is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate , with mild to cool, rainy winters and warm to hot, dry summers , which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation. It
900-622: The Sahara , which became a grassland , with lakes, rivers, and wetlands. After a period of climatic instability, the Sahara settled into a desert state by the 4th millennium BCE . One of the earliest modern studies of the Mediterranean was Fernand Braudel 's La Méditerranéee et le monde méditerranéen à l époque de Philippe II (The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II), published in 1949. S.D. Goitein 's multivolume study of
950-580: The Second Temple period often include unguentaria along with bowls, lamps, and various vessels ordinarily encountered in daily life. Unguentaria have also been found in Athens in ritual pyres along with the burnt bones of animal sacrifice and smashed pottery. A single unguentarium was buried with a dog, possibly a pet, in an industrial district in Athens. The many unguentaria at the Latin town of Aricia reflect
1000-597: The Wisconsin glaciation ( Würm in Southern European contexts), reached its maximum extent approximately 21,000 years ago, and ended approximately 12,000 years ago. A warm period, known as the Holocene climatic optimum , followed the ice age. Food crops, including wheat , chickpeas , and olives , along with sheep and goats , were domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean in the 9th millennium BCE , which allowed for
1050-475: The establishment of agricultural settlements . Near Eastern crops spread to southeastern Europe in the 7th millennium BCE . Poppy and oats were domesticated in Europe from the 6th to the 3rd millennium BCE. Agricultural settlements spread around the Mediterranean basin. Megaliths were constructed in Europe from 4500 – 1500 BCE. A strengthening of the summer monsoon 9000–7000 years ago increased rainfall across
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#17330851941201100-460: The marketing of products. Roman glass unguentaria often have markings or lettering, usually on the base, that could indicate the manufacturer of the vessel or the supplier or dealer of the product inside. Nabataean piriform wheel-thrown unguentaria show creative variations by potters, perhaps to establish brand identity for the product they contained. These vessels include some of the larger unguentaria and may have been used for shipping as part of
1150-562: The Mediterranean basin extends from Macaronesia in the west, to the Levant in the east, although some places may or may not be included depending on the view, as is the case with Macaronesia: some definitions only include Madeira and the Canary Islands while others include the whole Macaronesia (with the Azores and Cape Verde ). In Western Asia, it covers the western and southern portions of
1200-691: The Mediterranean basin include the Mediterranean monk seal , the Barbary macaque , and the Iberian lynx . The WWF identifies 22 Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions in the Mediterranean basin, most of which featuring sclerophyll plant species: Neanderthals inhabited western Asia and the non-glaciated portions of Europe starting about 230,000 years ago. Modern humans moved into western Asia from Africa less than 100,000 years ago. Modern humans, known as Cro-Magnons , moved into Europe approximately 50–40,000 years ago. The most recent glacial period,
1250-453: The Mediterranean from the temperate climate regions of Western , Northwestern or Northern Europe , Central Europe , and Eastern Europe . The Mediterranean basin was shaped by the ancient collision of the northward-moving African–Arabian continent with the stable Eurasian continent. As Africa–Arabia moved north, it closed the former Tethys Sea , which formerly separated Eurasia from the ancient super continent of Gondwana , of which Africa
1300-430: The Mediterranean region is further subdivided into seven to nine floristic provinces : Southwestern Mediterranean (or Southern Moroccan and Southwestern Mediterranean), Ibero-Balearian (or Iberian and Balearian), Liguro-Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, East Mediterranean , South Mediterranean and Crimeo-Novorossiysk. The Mediterranean basin is the largest of the world's five Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub regions. It
1350-507: The Mediterranean vegetation are the Aleppo pine , stone pine , Mediterranean cypress , bay laurel , Oriental sweetgum , holm oak , kermes oak , strawberry tree , Greek strawberry tree , mastic , terebinth , common myrtle , oleander , Acanthus mollis and Vitex agnus-castus . Moreover, many plant taxa are shared with one of the four neighboring floristic regions only. According to different versions of Armen Takhtajan 's delineation,
1400-669: The Miocene, which supported laurel forests . The shift to a Mediterranean climate occurred within the last 3.2–2.8 million years, during the Pliocene epoch, as summer rainfall decreased. The subtropical laurel forests retreated, although they persisted on the islands of Macaronesia off the Atlantic coast of Iberia and North Africa, and the present Mediterranean vegetation evolved, dominated by coniferous trees and sclerophyllous trees and shrubs, with small, hard, waxy leaves that prevent moisture loss in
1450-655: The Nabataeans' active perfume trade. Mass production of Roman blown-glass unguentaria is indicated by their frequent asymmetry , which results from speed and timing in shearing the neck from the blow-pipe. Recycled glass, as from a large, heavy broken bottle, could have been used to make many of the smaller unguentaria. While unguentaria often appear among grave goods , the purpose of their inclusion has not been determined with certainty or may vary by site. Unguentaria found in burials range in size from miniatures (4–5 cm.) to large examples 20 to 30 cm. high. The presence of
1500-461: The bodies was adorned with gold earrings in the shape of Nike , ten gold appliqués of Thetis riding a hippocamp , snake bracelets and bracelets with lion-head terminals, and other gold items; on the right side of the skull was placed a single clay unguentarium. Some graves contain multiple unguentaria, in one case numbering 31 of the fusiform type, while others hold a single example. Grave gifts sometimes consisted of nothing but unguentaria. Neither
1550-451: The contents proposed by scholars or evidenced by archaeology. With their long slender necks, the vessels were most suited for dispensing liquids, oils, and powders. Roman examples of bulbous unguentaria have been found with traces of olive oil . A sharp distinction should not be made between cosmetics and medicaments , as ingredients for these preparations often overlap. Chemical analysis of red and pink substances in two glass unguentaria from
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1600-469: The death of his wife: "Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill / With sorrowful water?" The minor Victorian poet Charles Tennyson Turner , brother of the more famous Tennyson , wrote a sonnet called "The Lachrymatory," elaborating the idea of "the phial of his kinsman’s tears." Since the early 20th century, the use of a vessel to collect tears of grief has been regarded as more poetic than plausible. In January 1896, The Atlantic Monthly published
1650-554: The diversity of craft tradition associated with them. Most unguentaria from the Athenian agora were probably intended for secular use, as they are found in household dumps; the pattern of deposition in some wells, however, suggests votive offerings. It has been suggested that products shipped in bulk containers were dispensed for sale in these smaller vessels. Perfumed oils, ointments, balsam , jasmine , kohl , honey , mastic , incense , scent powders and cosmetic preparations are among
1700-426: The dry summers. Much of these forests and shrublands have been altered beyond recognition by thousands of years of human habitation. There are now very few relatively intact natural areas in what was once a heavily wooded region. Phytogeographically , the Mediterranean basin together with the nearby Atlantic coast, the Mediterranean woodlands and forests and Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe of North Africa ,
1750-461: The growth of commerce to support ritual activities at the famous sanctuary of Diana there. Most ceramic unguentaria either lack surface decoration or have simple horizontal lines around the neck or body consisting most often of three narrow bands of white paint. Glass unguentaria vary widely in quality and show a range of colors. The Judean desert caves, for instance, yielded unguentaria of aquamarine glass with large bubbles. A striking example of
1800-443: The last 630,000 years of the Miocene epoch, which could explain several events of large amounts of salt deposition. Recent studies, however, show that repeated desiccation and re-flooding is unlikely from a geodynamic point of view. The end of the Miocene also marked a change in the Mediterranean basin's climate. Fossil evidence shows that the Mediterranean basin had a relatively humid subtropical climate with summer rainfall during
1850-501: The late Miocene, the Mediterranean was closed at its western end by drifting Africa, which caused the entire sea to evaporate. There followed several (debated) episodes of sea drawdown and re-flooding known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis , which ended when the Atlantic last re-flooded the basin at the end of the Miocene. Recent research has suggested that a desiccation-flooding cycle may have repeated several times during
1900-438: The liquid mix of alcohol ( ethanol ) and water used in eau de parfum , eau de toilette , eau de cologne , etc. Normally the substance that gives the cream its base comes from a type of wax that is initially melted. Once melted, a scent or several scents may be added. Solid perfume is used either by rubbing a finger or dipping a cotton swab against it and then onto the skin. Sometimes solid perfume can take more time for
1950-420: The modern era, an unguentarium is sometimes called a lacrimarium ("tear-container") or balsamarium (" balsam -container"). All three terms reflect modern usage based on assumptions about their use, and no single word is found in ancient sources for the vessels. Small vessels of two shapes, usually but not always without handles, are referred to as unguentaria: The word bulbous is used rather confusingly in
2000-647: The peninsula of Anatolia, as far as Iraq , but excluding the temperate-climate mountains of central Turkey. It includes the Mediterranean Levant at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, bounded on the east and south by the Syrian and Negev deserts. The northern portion of the Maghreb region of northwestern Africa has a Mediterranean climate, separated from the Sahara Desert , which extends across North Africa , by
2050-454: The period of the piriform type, the neck has become a spout, and the profile is no longer vertical. As with other unguentaria, no clear distinction can be made between the use of these vessels for grooming in daily life, and their inclusion in tombs. In her typology of Hellenistic vessels at Athens used to contain and pour oil, Susan I. Rotroff classes unguentaria with plastic askoi as used for perfumed oil in bathing and grooming, but notes
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2100-560: The piriform unguentaria nor thin blown-glass vessels occur in burials before the Augustan period. In Mainz , unguentaria are the most common grave gifts made of glass during the first half of the 1st century; in Gaul and Britain , glass unguentaria appear as containers for scented oils in both cremations and inhumations in this period and continuing into the 3rd century, but disappear by the 4th. The grave goods of Jewish ossuaries at Jericho in
2150-512: The scholarship to describe both forms. "Bulbous" appears as a synonym for "piriform", but is applied descriptively to the fusiform to distinguish certain examples from more slender profiles. Thin blown-glass bottles began to appear in Cyprus after the middle of the 1st century BC. The use of the new medium for unguentaria resulted in variations of form, including the thin, "test-tube" type. Glass unguentaria made in Thessaly , for example, often have
2200-557: The small vessels were believed to have been used to collect the tears ( lacrimae ) of mourners to accompany the beloved in the grave. This belief was supported by a scriptural reference ( Psalm 56.8 ) translated in the King James Bible as "put thou my tears into thy bottle." Shakespeare refers to the practice in Antony and Cleopatra , when Cleopatra chides the Roman for shedding few tears over
2250-539: The undecorated, "cruder" unguentarium, indicating a shift in burial practice that is characteristic of the period. Although the unguentaria seem often to have been buried along with other objects associated with or treasured by the deceased or as grave gifts, they may have also have held a substance — such as oil, wine, or powdered incense — for a graveside ritual. The design of many unguentaria would not permit them to stand without support, but no stands have been found. Late Hellenistic gravestones depict unguentaria resting in
2300-469: The vessel in Hellenistic graves may indicate a revival of an earlier practice, attested in the 6th century by aryballoi and in some 5th- and early 4th-century burials by small lekythoi , which involved the deposit of a small container of perfume or oil with the dead. By the 3rd century, the black-figure lekythos with palmettes or Dionysiac scenes has been completely replaced as a standard grave good by
2350-551: Was a very important part of Mediterranean civilizations. The Mediterranean basin covers portions of three continents: Europe , Africa , and Asia . It is distinct from the drainage basin , which extends much further south and north due to major rivers ending in the Mediterranean Sea, such as the Nile and Rhône . Conversely, the Mediterranean basin includes regions not in the drainage basin ( Portugal , Jordan and Iraq ). It has
2400-405: Was first proposed by German botanist August Grisebach in the late 19th century. The monotypic Drosophyllaceae , recently segregated from Droseraceae , is the only plant family endemic to the region. Among the endemic plant genera are: The genera Aubrieta , Sesamoides , Cynara , Dracunculus , Arisarum and Biarum are nearly endemic. Among the endemic species prominent in
2450-534: Was found in a cremation burial at Stobi in North Macedonia . Made of milky glass, the vessel has a globular body decorated with an egg-and-dart motif around the top and festoons and vine clusters around the bottom. The middle had six panels illustrating various vessels, with two examples each of the hydria , oenochoe and crater . The use of the term "lacrimarium" or "lacrimatorium" (also " lacrymatory " or "lachrymatory") for unguentaria persisted because
2500-939: Was part. At about the same time, 170 mya in the Jurassic period, a small Neotethys ocean basin formed shortly before the Tethys Sea was closed at the eastern end. The collision pushed up a vast system of mountains, extending from the Pyrenees in Spain to the Zagros Mountains in Iran . This episode of mountain building, known as the Alpine orogeny , occurred mostly during the Oligocene (34 to 23 million years ago ( mya )) and Miocene (23 to 5.3 mya) epochs. The Neotethys became larger during these collisions and associated folding and subduction. About 6 mya during
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