AMPHORE CINÉRAIRE PEINTE HELLENISTIQUE DE PALAEPAPHOS
AMPHORE CINÉRAIRE PEINTE HELLENISTIQUE DE PALAEPAPHOS

Author(s): Eustathios Raptou
Subject(s): Archaeology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: amphora; burial customs; Hellenistic period; incineration; painted decoration; Palaepaphos
Summary/Abstract: In this paper we present an amphora unearthed in a tomb in the Hellenistic and Roman cemetery of Palaepaphos, situated in the locality Phones, to the West of the sanctuary of Aphrodite. The amphora dates to the early Hellenistic period and although its shape is common among local ceramic production, it bears a polychrome decoration of a wreath with ribbons on a white ground, which distinguishes it from other Cypriot vases of the same period. The vase contained burnt human remains, which means that it was used as a cinerary urn. This cinerary urn is the first to be found in Palaepaphos and is also an important addition to the limited number of cremations known for the whole area of Paphos at the same period. In this paper we discuss the shape and decoration of the amphora, cremation as a burial custom introduced to Cyprus in the Hellenistic period and we try to place that discovery inside its wider archaeological and historical frame.

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