Amphora Handle with Greek Stamp
4th-1st century BCE
Description
Amphora handle with rim section. Pale pink clay. The handle has a flat top and abrupt angle. An oblong stamp is impressed on the top, deeply at the inner end and perhaps running off at the outer, where there is no defined margin; it is 2.1 cm wide and as preserved 5 cm long. A roughly oval boss in the middle has two ribbon-like protuberances on either side of its upper end. Central attribute might be a bunch of grapes hanging from a branch. To the left two lines in Greek read: ME/TRA and on the right: NE[ /TO[. Comparable examples suggest restoring the name Menestratos. The letters are generously square and the A has the central crossbar broken downwards.
Dimensions
8.28 cm (3 1/4 in.)
Provenance
Found by Mason Hammond at Pompeii, 1938. Given to the McDaniel Collection, September, 1959.
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