DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45930#0056
Mark L. Lawall
6. Hellenistic stamped Amphora Handies*
6.1 Introduction
When the Staatsmarkt Basilika and Prytaneion areas were first excavated the dominant methodology for the
study of transport amphoras was to collect the stamped handles and discard the remainder. Thankfully, the
modus operandi at Ephesos has changed along with other sites in recent decades and a much more complete
view of the amphora record has appeared from more recently excavated areas1. Despite the partial nature of the
extant record from the Staatsmarkt and Prytaneion excavations, it seems valuable to publish what was saved in
the likelihood that these data may be coordinated with more complete records from other sectors of excavation
at the site.
The date of construction ofthe Hellenistic Stoa from the amphora handles
Many of the stamped amphora handles were found in the building fills for the Roman period Stoa-Basilika
and the Prytaneion, but the presence of considerable, and considerably earlier, Hellenistic material in such fills
is entirely in keeping with finds elsewhere in Hellenistic Ephesos. The chronological span of such material
is entirely appropriate for the general history of the site2. The earliest independently datable stamps date no
earlier than ca. 280 BC, with most of the early material dating to the middle to third quarter of the 3rd Century.
When Hellenistic material at Ephesos is found associated with Hellenistic public building projects, such as the
The authors did not see the amphora handles in Ephesos; the stamps were studied from photographs and rubbings. Maria Savva-
tianou-Petropoulakou, Athens wrote the initial manuscript for the Rhodian stamps. Her manuscript was then heavily revised and
up-dated by Tania Panagou, Athens and Mark L. Lawall, Winnipeg. Sections on the Nikandros group and Other Classes were
written by M. Lawall with assistance from Tamas Bezeczky. This article would not have been possible without frequent consulta-
tion of the research files compiled by Virginia Grace, with many assistants over the years but especially M. Savvatianou-Petro-
poulakou, Andreas Dimoulinis, Carolyn Koehler, and Philippa Wallace Matheson. These files, variously referred to in previous
publications as the ‘Agora files’ or the ‘Amphoras Project’, are now housed in the archives of the American School of Classical
Studies in Athens and are accessible to scholars on appointment. These files are referred to in this text as the ‘Grace files’ since
without her instigation none of the work would have taken place (even if, as noted above, she was not solely responsible for the
information in the files). M. Lawall also acknowledges the financial assistance of a grant from the SSHRC that supported research
included in this chapter. Thanks particularly go to Claudia Lang-Auinger, Veronika Mitsopoulos-Leon, Sabine Ladstätter, and
Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan for all männer of assistance in completing this unanticipated project.
Additional abbreviations:
ABC Alexandria, Benaki Collection, now housed in the Greco-Roman Museum
Benaki letters from Lukas Benaki to Virginia Grace, listed by date of the letter
EM Athens Epigraphical Museum
IP Isthmia Pottery
VG Virginia Grace - usually in reference to a photograph number in her archives
Cy VG file numbers for stamps from Cyprus
Lake Refers to an unpublished, numbered list of the stamps from Samaria compiled by Silva Lake. The readings were then
published in an un-numbered list by Crowfoot 1957. V. Grace’s archives include a partial copy of Lake’s list.
1 See for examples Bezeczky 2001, 2003, and 2004; Lawall 2000 and 2004a; Liko 2001; Ladstätter - Lang-Auinger 2001; Lad-
stätter 2003.
2 For overviews of the history and topography of Hellenistic Ephesos, see Knibbe 1998; and Scherrer 1999; 2001 and 2006.
6. Hellenistic stamped Amphora Handies*
6.1 Introduction
When the Staatsmarkt Basilika and Prytaneion areas were first excavated the dominant methodology for the
study of transport amphoras was to collect the stamped handles and discard the remainder. Thankfully, the
modus operandi at Ephesos has changed along with other sites in recent decades and a much more complete
view of the amphora record has appeared from more recently excavated areas1. Despite the partial nature of the
extant record from the Staatsmarkt and Prytaneion excavations, it seems valuable to publish what was saved in
the likelihood that these data may be coordinated with more complete records from other sectors of excavation
at the site.
The date of construction ofthe Hellenistic Stoa from the amphora handles
Many of the stamped amphora handles were found in the building fills for the Roman period Stoa-Basilika
and the Prytaneion, but the presence of considerable, and considerably earlier, Hellenistic material in such fills
is entirely in keeping with finds elsewhere in Hellenistic Ephesos. The chronological span of such material
is entirely appropriate for the general history of the site2. The earliest independently datable stamps date no
earlier than ca. 280 BC, with most of the early material dating to the middle to third quarter of the 3rd Century.
When Hellenistic material at Ephesos is found associated with Hellenistic public building projects, such as the
The authors did not see the amphora handles in Ephesos; the stamps were studied from photographs and rubbings. Maria Savva-
tianou-Petropoulakou, Athens wrote the initial manuscript for the Rhodian stamps. Her manuscript was then heavily revised and
up-dated by Tania Panagou, Athens and Mark L. Lawall, Winnipeg. Sections on the Nikandros group and Other Classes were
written by M. Lawall with assistance from Tamas Bezeczky. This article would not have been possible without frequent consulta-
tion of the research files compiled by Virginia Grace, with many assistants over the years but especially M. Savvatianou-Petro-
poulakou, Andreas Dimoulinis, Carolyn Koehler, and Philippa Wallace Matheson. These files, variously referred to in previous
publications as the ‘Agora files’ or the ‘Amphoras Project’, are now housed in the archives of the American School of Classical
Studies in Athens and are accessible to scholars on appointment. These files are referred to in this text as the ‘Grace files’ since
without her instigation none of the work would have taken place (even if, as noted above, she was not solely responsible for the
information in the files). M. Lawall also acknowledges the financial assistance of a grant from the SSHRC that supported research
included in this chapter. Thanks particularly go to Claudia Lang-Auinger, Veronika Mitsopoulos-Leon, Sabine Ladstätter, and
Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan for all männer of assistance in completing this unanticipated project.
Additional abbreviations:
ABC Alexandria, Benaki Collection, now housed in the Greco-Roman Museum
Benaki letters from Lukas Benaki to Virginia Grace, listed by date of the letter
EM Athens Epigraphical Museum
IP Isthmia Pottery
VG Virginia Grace - usually in reference to a photograph number in her archives
Cy VG file numbers for stamps from Cyprus
Lake Refers to an unpublished, numbered list of the stamps from Samaria compiled by Silva Lake. The readings were then
published in an un-numbered list by Crowfoot 1957. V. Grace’s archives include a partial copy of Lake’s list.
1 See for examples Bezeczky 2001, 2003, and 2004; Lawall 2000 and 2004a; Liko 2001; Ladstätter - Lang-Auinger 2001; Lad-
stätter 2003.
2 For overviews of the history and topography of Hellenistic Ephesos, see Knibbe 1998; and Scherrer 1999; 2001 and 2006.
