Sanat

Ceramic 49 Cyprus and the Ancient Mediterranean World

Cyprus had a large pottery industry that produced vessels to transport and store products to domestic ritual, funerary and trading purposes.

Initially hand-built and later wheel-turned, these ceramic pieces combined Aegean and Eastern influences with local traditions. Decorative designs tended to feature red and black circles and bands.

Amphora and barrel juglet, 700-600 BC – Cyprus; bottle, red polished ware, 2000-1950 BC; aryballos, white painted 700-600 BC, Sicily; bichrome oenochoe, 700-600 BC, Cyprus; bowl with handles 1450-1375 BC; plate with handles 850-700 BC; bichrome bowl 700-600 BC, Cyprus.
Photos: Füsun Kavrakoğlu, National Archaeological Museum, Madrid, 2026.

Zoomorphic vessels may have once held perfumes. The body is decorated with irregular grooves, while the sides are topped by a series of ridges that imitate the cephalopod’s oval mantle. Small ceramic containers for oils or perfumes are typically associated with funerary rituals. Others, with rattles inside, may have been musical instruments. Their forms allude to Cypriot beliefs and the symbolic significance of animals like bulls or birds, associated with fertility and rebirth.
Askos in the shape of a turtle 1800-1600 BC, Sicily; askos in the shape of a hen, 1800-1600 BC; askos in the shape of a bull 1700-1600 BC, Sicily.

Objects for the afterlife. Grave goods consisted mostly of pottery items, occasionally associated with other distinguishing objects. Weapons, jewellery and terracotta pieces served to identify the status, gender or age of the deceased and accompany them on their journey to the afterlife.
Oenochoe, white painted, 600-475 BC, Cyprus; oenochoe, bichrome 850-700 BC, Cyprus.

Terracotta Charioteer. The image of a horse-drawn chariot at ceremonial or military events was ubiquitous in the ancient Mediterranean World, even appearing in the Homeric poems. A symbol of nobility and power, this piece would have allowed the deceased aristocrat to maintain the bond with his horse after death. 6th century BC.

Information panels of National Archaeological Museum, Madrid.