¹ I am indebted to Dr. and Mrs. Flora for permission to study this vessel prior to its donation to Ashland University. I also wish to express my appreciation to Herbert S. Long, Charlotte R. Long, Frank L. Koucky, Ruth E. Palmer and Ingrid Ebner for assistance rendered at various stages of my research.

² The fact that the jar was purchased in Jerusalem does not necessarily warrant the conclusion that it had its provenance in that city or its vicinity, since in modern times antiquities have sometimes been taken from southern Syria to Jerusalem because of the relatively strong market there.

³ Miniature pots, with or without handles, were extremely popular during these periods, both as trade items and as local fabrications at many sites. Some sense of the remarkable variety of shapes and wares that such vessels could have at a site can be gotten from the types excavated at Seleucia on the Tigris (Debevoise, N. C., Parthian pottery from Seleucia on the Tigris [Ann Arbor, Michigan 1934]CrossRefGoogle Scholar, Figs. 38–56, 58–59, 63–71, 75–76, 239, 241–245, 251–253, 264–265, 273, 307–316, 319–322, 324, 326–328, 330 and 337).

⁴ M. Hershkovitz has compiled a corpus of small Palestinian jars of the Hellenistic-Roman period (‘Miniature ointment vases from the Second Temple period’, Israel Exploration Journal xxxvi [1986] 45–51). She groups the specimens into four types and notes comparative materials from elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean region. The vessel under discussion here is of her Type B, a distinctive and infrequent form which is described as having well-levigated pink to buff ware, a biconical body 4–5 cm. high, a wide mouth, a rim ranging from vertical to everted, and a brownish-red slip on the upper body and interior of the mouth. Handles are not present.

⁵ The accuracy of the transcription was verified by examination of the surface of the vessel at 20x and 40x magnification. Immediately to the left of these letters, and occupying a space roughly equivalent to two Greek letters, are some minute bits of the same ink, sparsely scattered in the normal microscopic depressions of the surface; these are flecks too few and small to be reproduced in a photograph. If two letters did precede ΩΡΑС, the only plausible Greek word would have been όπώρας (see further in n. 34), but the few flecks are not positioned so as to warrant any such hypothetical reconstruction.

⁶ Several such vessels, having several different forms and ranging widely in provenance and date, are discussed by Haspels, C.H.E., Attic black-figured lekythoi (Paris 1936) 124–6Google Scholar in connection with a labelled lekythos from Athens. See further in n. 38.

⁷ As Galen's writings show, Greek-speaking physicians customarily specified the ingredients of medicines according to drachmas and obols (see his De antidot., De comp. med. sec. loc. and De comp. med. per gen).

⁸ Although it is difficult to determine the purchasing power of ancient coinage, particularly for a specific geographical region, the value of a drachma during the Hellenistic period was approximately a day's wage for a skilled labourer (Rostovtzeff, M., The social and economic history of the Hellenistic world [Oxford 1941] 1600–1)Google Scholar; even a highly-compensated physician received only 1000 drachmas per annum (Tarn, W. W., Hellenistic civilization ² [London 1930] 100).Google Scholar By the first century AD the daily wage in Palestine apparently had undergone only moderate inflation; the Gospel of Matthew (20:2) states that a denarius (comparable to a drachma) was a day's wage for an unskilled labourer.

⁹ For example, the numbers of obols that appear in itemizations for expenditures in the accounts from the Tebtunis Grapheion, although usually low when representing small change that accompanies drachmas, rise upon occasion to several dozen obols (in one instance as high as 52) when drachmas do not figure in the itemization (Boak, A. E. R., Papyri from Tebtunis, Part I (Ann Arbor 1933) 105Google Scholar; see also, inter alia, entries on pp. 167 [28 obols, 106 [36 obols] and 199 [42 obols]).

¹⁰ Cf. Arist. HA 554b and Longus Daph. et Ch. i 32.2. (Texts and paginations are cited here according to the Canon of Greek authors and works ³, ed. Berkowitz, L. and Squier, K. A. [New York 1990].)Google Scholar

¹¹ Carm. mor. 575.11.

¹² Ad. vid. jun. 342.

¹³ E.g. ἦρος ἄνθη καὶ μετοπώρου ὸπώρα (Longus Dach, et Chi. iv 2.6); φθονερὸς γὰρ ό χρόνος καὶ τὴν ἄνθους ὤραν ἀφανίζει καὶ τὴν κάλλους ὰκυὴν ὰπάγει (Philostr, F.I.. Epist. et dial. i 17Google Scholar).

¹⁴ Il ii 468, Od. ix 51. The simile was sometimes quoted by later writers (e.g. Plu. Amat. 767b).

¹⁵ Fr. 55.3.

¹⁶ Fragrances made from the petals of certain flowers were widely used in antiquity. Several monographs, now lost, dealt with this topic, but some information is embedded in extant works, among them Athen. Deip. (xv 673e–692f). Floral essences could be obtained by enfleurage, in which flower petals were spread on odour-absorbing fat which could then be worked into pomade balls, by maceration, in which flower petals were dipped into heated fat or oil and the resultant mixture was strained and cooled, or by expression, in which the petals were crushed for their essence. (See Singer, C., Holmyard, E. J. and Hall, A. R., A history of technology i [Oxford 1954] 290–1.)Google Scholar In larger cities there were shops that specialized in perfume, as Athenaeus mentions (690a).

¹⁷ Fab. 258.1. See also Greg. Nys. Enc. in xl mart. 46.756: ‘illustrious in beauty, magnificent in youthfulness, like a flower of spring’ (κάλλει διαπρεπεῖς, ἔρνεσι τὸ μέγεθος παραπλήσιοι ὲν ἄνθει τῆς ὥρας).

¹⁸ Hist. rom. xvii 57.51.

¹⁹ Spec. leg. i 325.

²⁰ De virt. 112; cf. De fug. et inv. 153.

²¹ Rep. 475a: ‘… so as not to discard a single flower that blooms in the spring of youth’ (ῶστε μηδένα ὰποβάλλειν τῶν ἀνθούντων ἐν ὥρᾳ).

²² E.g. Greg. Nys. De virg. 3.2: ‘in youthful prime, the very bloom of youth’ (ήλικία συμβαίνουσα, τῆς ὥρας αὺτὸ τὸ ἄνθος).

²³ Fr. mor. 718. The aphorism was quoted by other ancient writers, among them Diog. Laer. and Plu.

²⁴ Pl. Alc. 131E; cf. Aesop (n. 14).

²⁵ Smp. 8.14.

²⁶ Contr, eos qui sub. hab. virg. 1.51: νοσήματα πολιορκοῦντα τὸ σῶμα καὶ μαραίνοντα τὸ ἄνθος τῆς ὥρας; cf. De incomp. dei nat. 3.226). Also see Joh. Dam. De fid. orth. 94.1121.

²⁷ So, for instance, in Theodoretus Epist. [Coll. Patmensis] 3.6: τὸ τε γὰρ τῆς νεότητος ἄνθος ὑπορρεῖ καὶ μαραίνεται.

²⁸ See, inter alia, Greg. Nys. De dei. fil. et sp. sanc. 46.569).

²⁹ E.g. καὶ ἤδη παῖς ἦν ὲν ἄνθει τῆς ήλικίας, έν ἀκμῇ τῆς ὥρας (Greg. Nys. [n.25] 46.568); cf. Joh. Chrysostom (n. 23) 2.215 and Ad stag, a daem. vex. 47.462.

³⁰ Note Schol, in Find. Nem. 6.104a: πρὸ ὥρας γοῦν τὸ ἄνθος αὺτοῖς τῆς ἤβης.

³¹ Aesch. uses the expression in Prom. 23: χροιᾶς άμεί–ψεις ἄνθος; see also Eustath. Comm. ad Hom. Il. iii 621.

³² E.g. τὴν τοῦ σώματος ὥραν καὶ τὸ τοῦ κάλλους ἄνθος (Schol, in Pind. Isth. 2.8).

³³ The expression appears in Philo Alex. Spec. leg. iii 39 (καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀκμῆς ἄνθος ἐκθηλύνων) and elsewhere.

³⁴ With regard to the last-mentioned term, one theoretically possible but extremely unlikely alternative to the reading ὥρας ἄνθος must be considered, namely that the few microscopic, patternless flecks of ink to the left of ΩΡΑСΑΝΘΟС (see n. 5) are faint remnants of two letters that were originally a part of the dipinto. Of the relatively few Greek words that terminate in –ωρα, the only one that would be plausible in connection with ἄνθος is ὸπώρα can, depending upon the context, mean either ‘fruit’ or ‘late summer’, the latter being the season of matured fruit. The linked words ὀπώρας ἄνθος are much less frequent in ancient Greek literature than are ὥρας ἄνθος, since flowering and fruiting were perceived basically as sequential functions (e.g. Clearch fr. 25.17: καλὸν γὰρ τὸ τῆς ὸπώρας καὶ τὸ τῆς ὥρας ὅντως πρόσωπον ἔν τε καρποῖσι καὶ ἀνθεσι θεωρούμενον). If one wanted to refer to autumn flowers—something that was done infrequently—one generally would speak of μετοπώρου (or φθινοπώρου) ἄνθη, as Arist, does in HA 554a. Ὀπώρας ἄνθος sometimes appears in connection with grapes and wine as the ‘flower’ of the grapevine (so particularly in Nonnus, Dion, xii 95Google Scholar, 180, 241, xlvi 69 etc.). On rare occasions the term is applied metaphorically to maturation in human beings (e.g. Pind. Nem. 5.6; Alcaeus (Lyr.) fr. 397.1). Only this last-mentioned meaning could have any possible relevance for the text on the jar under discussion. It may be noted that if the dipinto did originally read ὸπώρας ἄνθος, the meaning would be only slightly different from that of ὤρας ἄνθος, focusing more on the beauty of maturity than on that of youthfulness; it is doubtful, however, that a merchant would choose to stress maturity over youth if labelling a cosmetic product.

³⁵ E.g. Theophr. HP, De lap. and De od.; Diosc. De mat.medi:; Leiden papyri W and X (Papyri graeci musei anliquarii publici ii, ed. Leemans, C. [Lugduni-Batavi 1885]Google Scholar; Papyrus Holm (ed. Lagercrantz, L. [Uppsala 1913])Google Scholar; and various works of Galen. To this brief list may be added Pliny's NH, which, though in Latin gives much information relevant to Greek botany and mineralogy. Blossoms were sometimes used medicinally, but in such cases usually were known by specific names, e.g. camomile flowers (perhaps Anthémis nobilis), which were used as a stomachic, absinth blossoms (Absinthium marinum), which were used as vermifuges, and arnica flowers (Arnica montana), which were made into a tincture. (See further in Flückinger, F. A. and Hanbury, D., Pharmacographia: a history of the principal drugs [London 1879].)Google Scholar It may be noted, however, that Hsch. (Lex. A 5105) indicates that ἄνθεα (necessarily when accompanied by qualifying terms) could designate φάρμακα ποικίλα ‘various drugs’. Among the medicinal preparations that Hsch. had in mind was perhaps οίνάνθη (Asclep. Bith. ap. Gal. xiii 540) or οίνανθάριον (Alex. Trai. De feb. 7.3). Modern scholarly studies of pharmacological history such as Wellmann, M., ‘Die Pflanzennamen des Dioskurides’, Hermes xvi (1898) 360–42Google Scholar, Schmidt, A., Drogen und Drogenhandel im Altertum (Leipzig 1924)Google Scholar and Schelenz, H., Geschichte der Pharmazie (Hildesheim 1962)Google Scholar show no product known as ὤρας ἄνθος. Ἄνθος appears a number of times in pre-modern pharmacopoeias, but largely interms first used by the Greeks to designate certain oxides, salts or other efflorescences. Ancient mineralogical texts speak of άλοσάνθος (or άλὸς ἄνθος), ‘flower of salt’, χαλκάνθος (χαλκοῦ ἄνθος), ‘flower of copper’ and χρυσάνθος (χρυσοῦἄνθος), ‘flower of gold’, etc. (see, inter alia, Moore, N. F., Ancient mineralogy [New York 1859]).Google Scholar With regard to perfume, see n. 16.

³⁶ Some excavation reports (e.g. Young, Rodney S., ‘Sepulturae intra urbem’, Hesperia xx [1951] 88–89)Google Scholar refer to handleless miniature jars with wide mouths by the term lydion, particularly when they have footed bases and outward-flaring rims similar to those of vessels found in Lydia. The term is not suitable, however, for the majority of miniature jars found in the eastern Mediterranean region. Such vessels are more appropriately termed unguent-pots in Sparkes, Brian A. and Talcott, Lucy, Black and plain pottery of the 6th, 5th and 4th centuries BC (The Athenian agora, XII; Princeton 1970) 157.Google Scholar

³⁷ The readily observable differences among such containers may, in fact, partially explain why the contents of bottles and miniature jars were generally not labelled. Inter-relationships of form, function and provenance extend to bottles, amphoras and many other kinds of vessels as well.

³⁸ Hershkovitz (n. 4) oversimplifies the situation when she generalizes that miniature jars contained medicinal ointments (p. 50). She also states—surprisingly in view of her otherwise perceptive analysis of ceramic forms—that the miniature jars in her corpus are similar to lykion pots found at Morgantina; in fact, the λύκιον containers found there and at several other sites are distinctive, being of generally poorer craftsmanship, having small opposing handles, and bearing the stamped label ΛΥΚΙΟΝ. Λύκιον was a popular medicine, the botanical derivation of which is debated, that was used for a wide range of ailments, among which, according to Dioscurides, were psoriasis, hydrophobia and dysentery (see further in Sjöqvist, E., ‘Morgantina: hellenistic medicine bottles’, AJA lxiv [1960] 78–83).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Of particular relevance for the jar under discussion is a vessel of similar kind excavated at Dor, which bears the label ΑΛΥΠΟΥ, incised after the vessel was fired (Stern, Ephraim, ‘Hellenistic Dor’, Qadmoniot xiv [1961] 103–10Google Scholar; photograph on p. 110). Hershkovitz (47, 50) suggests that the word may be the name of the dispensing pharmacist, i.e. Ἄλυπος. Although that word, meaning ‘free from pain or sorrow’, is rarely attested as a proper name in antiquity (see RE [1894] 1711), the genitive case of the word admittedly tends to favour that interpretation. It may be noted, however, that there was a well-known, powerful medicine called ἄλυπον, which surely would have suggested itself to anyone who saw the label, the genitival termination notwithstanding. The drug was obtained from a shrubby perennial herb of the Mediterranean regions (Globularia alypum L.), which is mentioned, inter alia, by Pliny (Ar. H. xxvii 22) and Diosc. (De Mat. Med. iv 178); on the latter, see Berendes, J., Des Pedamos Dioskurides aus Anazarbos Arzneimittellehre (Suttgart 1902) 468Google Scholar and Gunther, R. T., The Greek herbal of Dioscurides (New York 1959) 581.Google Scholar The seed of the plant was used as a purge that, if given in overdose, could be dangerous; hence the plant's nickname, ‘herb terrible’.

³⁹ This hypothesis is supported by the jar from Dor discussed in the previous note. The likelihood is not very great that the label represents the reuse of a jar'that originally had contained some other substance, since a vessel of this sort probably was not valuable enough to have warranted cleaning and reuse; furthermore, it might have been difficult to remove residual substances and odours satisfactorily.