Two cypriot juglets
€345
available
Object number
AR3300H14
| Object: |
Two cypriot juglets, also known as Bilbil
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| Material: |
Orange clay with orange-red or brown-red polished glaze, respectively.
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| Period: |
C. 1600 BC to 1050 BC. Late Bronze Age of Cyprus. |
| Description: |
Two clay juglets of the Cypriot Base Ring I ware. Each with a spherical body resting on a conical foot. A long, slender neck with a funnel-shaped lip sits on the body. A handle extends in a wide curve from the shoulder to below the lip, where a double decorative rim runs around the neck. The shape of the jugs is reminiscent of poppy capsules, and the Arabic name "bilbil" for these jugs is widely used. |
| Background: |
The bilbil juglets are a testament to the Bronze Age opium trade. Cyprus was a major opium-growing region, and the bilbil juglets were also manufactured there. However, archaeological finds of these distinctive ceramic vessels extend far beyond the island to its trading partners in the Eastern Mediterranean. Analyses confirmed opium residues in some of these pots (e.g. Koschel 1996), and their shape is apparently inspired by poppy capsules. This suggests that the storage and transport of opium paste was their primary use. Opium had both ritual and medicinal significance in the Late Bronze Age. Recent research paints a more nuanced picture, highlighting the importance of these vessels also for the trade in scented oils (Lederman 2016). Despite this non-exclusive nature, the Bilbil pots are didactically valuable artifacts for public and private collections, as they illustrate opium as an important economic factor and as part of Late Bronze Age cults. |
| Dimensions: |
13.5cm and 13.0cm height.
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| Condition: |
One jug has a large missing part on the base, a small missing part on the lip, and a heavily worn body with surface chipping, yet the dark slip is preserved in places. The other jug has a missing handle, two small missing parts on the base, and two small missing parts on the lip. The surface of this jug is very well preserved, with attractive find deposits.
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2021 from the German private collection of Professor K.-H. Manegold. Acquired by him from the art trade in the 1970s. Councilor Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Manegold (1930–2021) was a historian and long-time professor at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University of Hanover, Germany. In addition to his academic activities, he was politically and culturally active in Göttingen, Germany for decades, including as chairman of the Cultural Committee and as the initiator of a local cultural award. His interest in archaeology is reflected in his extensive and well-documented collection of Etruscan artefacts, which was published in scholarly publications by his mentor and colleague, Prof. Dr. Raddatz. Individual artefacts from the art trade supplemented his collection. |
| References: |
Cf. G. Zahlhaas, Keramiken der Prähistorischen Staatssammlung im Internationalen Keramik-Museum Weiden, p. 79, acc. no. 1976, 3014. Cf. R. Amiran, Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land, p. 172, photo 174. Cf. Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, acc. no. 52.27. |
| Literature: |
K. Koschel, Opium Alkaloids in a Cypriote Base Ring I Vessel (Bilbil) of the Middle Bronze Age from Egypt; in Egypt and the Levant 6 (1996), pp. 159-166.
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| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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