A Monumental Marble Crater from Smintheion

Abstract

For the Hellenistic and Roman societies, marble and miscellaneous materials made of marble have always been considered among the most valuable, although their types and purposes have changed. On the other hand, marble vases are used a lot in daily life because they are attractive in appearance and convenient in terms of use, and they are quite diverse. Marble is in demand both in the geography where it is mined and in the region where it is used. It is also cumbersome to use, extract, transport and manufacture. It is favorite and common to repair the broken ones and produce smaller artifacts from the broken piece. It is possible to see these marble vases in all areas of daily life, especially in the kitchen, as decoration in rich palaces and villas, burial and even in religious ceremonies, and as offerings to God. Although common in all areas of life, they remain in the shadow of metal vases. They even imitate bronze in terms of form and decoration. The most magnificent examples of imitations made of marble are the monumental craters. Another exceptional example of marble craters, preferred by the Roman elite in terms of visuality, comes from the Smintheion excavations. A few fragments of marble vases preserved in the Smintheion excavation warehouse today belong to a monumental (calyx) crater made during the Roman Imperial Period. They are understood to be one of the brightest artifacts presented to Apollon Smintheus in the sanctuary. The assignment of date is made with a critical typological comparison to erlier (classical, Hellenistic) grand marble craters.