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The amphora
vividly illustrates the ingenuity
of mankind in every age. Faced with
the problem of storing and transporting
goods of various kinds in ships, and
limited by the materials available
at the time, clay was formed into
shapes appropriate for the job at
hand. Used in great numbers, amphorae
were produced in many places around
the rim of the Mediterranean and each
producer was identifiable by the design,
a fact of tremendous value to today's
archaeologists and historians who
are thus able to trace trading patterns
of the ancient world. Some of the
trade routes of the Mediterranean,
deduced - among other indicators -
from the locations where certain types
of amphorae were found, are illustrated
on the wall of the Amphora Park.
These vessels, ubiquitous in antiquity,
were used as containers for wine,
olive oil, olives, grains, almonds
and numerous other staples and bulk
goods. Modern technology allows today's
researchers to identify the contents
of an amphora even when these goods
have left only traces inside the vessel,
permitting the investigator to describe
the cargo carried by a ship when found
as part of a shipwreck. If found on
land, the contents of a house larder
or a warehouse can also be identified.
 The
shapes of amphorae vary from long
and slender to virtually spherical.
Cnidian, Coan, Rhodian and even Carthaginian
amphorae are on display, having originated
in Cnidus, Cos, Rhodes and Carthage
and finding a resting place in the
Bodrum Museum. Some were found on
land, but most were retrieved from
the shipwrecks excavated to date,
from the "container ships"
of antiquity. The pointed or knobbed
bottoms and oblong shapes permitted
the amphorae to be closely packed,
or stacked, in the holds of ships,
with matting placed between the amphorae
to prevent breakage. Matting or shoring
with twigs and other materials (the
progenitors of Styrofoam of today!)
was also used to cushion the amphorae
from the hull of the ship. The design
characteristic that permitted the
stacking allowed loads of a great
number of amphorae to be carried,
sometimes well over a thousand, making
voyages profitable and permitting
loads of mixed cargo.
There are many sources for detailed
information about amphorae available
to all who are interested and the
details are indeed fascinating. For
example, amphora handles are embossed
with the sign of the manufacturer,
the symbol of Rhodian origin being
a rose, of the Coan a crab, and of
the Cnidian a bull's head.
The collection in the Bodrum Museum
is displayed in the Amphora Park,
on the ground floor of the Snake Tower
and scattered throughout the castle
grounds. It should be noted that the
first artifacts to be deposited in
the castle when it was just an embryo
of a museum were amphorae recovered
from the sea by Bodrum sponge divers. |
