A Comment on the Two Mold-Blown Glass Vessels from Anatolia: Christian Affi liations in Roman Imperial Glass

Year 2024, Issue: XIV, 11 - 22, 13.06.2024

Ayşe Emel Erten , Güven Sevencan

Abstract

Two glass vessels from Anatolian fi ndspots are interesting as they not only demonstrate the presence of Anatolia within the larger geographical distribution of certain mold-blown glass types but also refl ect Christianity’s impact on Roman glass vessels. Both the beaker with an inscription of a phrase taken from the New Testament found in a tomb in the necropolis at Smintheion and the head-fl ask discovered in a tomb at Seleucia at Calycadnum with a chi-rho monogram at the bottom have Christian connotations. Th e beaker from Smintheion belongs to a group dated to the fi rst century AD and can be regarded as one of the earliest glass objects displaying the penetration of Christian tradition into the Roman culture and daily life. Th e phrase is surely a secular invitation for a dinner or meeting but its roots directly refl ect the impact of the new religion. Th e head-fl ask from Seleucia is dated much later than our fi rst example and belongs to the second half of the third and the second half of the fourth century AD. A lthough the child’s face on two sides of the fl ask was interpreted as being Eros or infant Dionysus (purely pagan fi gures), the chi-rho monogram at the bottom could easily be one of the earliest applications of it as a Christian symbol on artifacts after its fi rst use by the soldiers of Constantine the Great in the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. Th erefore, the mold-blown fl ask- with its pagan and Christian connotations- can easily be interpreted as an excellent representative of the transition from paganism to Christianity in the Roman world.

Keywords

Roman glass, mold-blown vessels, glass vessels with inscriptions, chi-rho monogram, head-flasks.

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