This ampulla is a small vessel (it is less than 1.5 inches high) that was filled with perfumed oils and hung around the neck (secured with string or leather tied to the loop handles). Ancient writers prescribe the use of lead because it preserves the strength of the odor (so does alabaster, but that was much more costly). Some of the oils, like spikenard, were probably used for their “medico-magical efficacy”—to ward off evil and to prevent or cure disease. About 75 of these vessels are known. Most (85 percent) were obtained on the antiquities market. The pictured one, however, was found in an excavation at Beth Shean in Israel. Ampullae like this have also been found in Lebanon, Cyprus, Greece, Rome and as far away as France. They date from about the first to the eighth centuries A.D.
Source: L.Y. Rahmani, “On Some Roman to Early Medieval Lead Miniature Amphorae,” Israel Museum Studies in Archaeology, vol. 2 (Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 2003), p. 33.
How Many?
Answer: 9
Unless there is inscriptional or sculptural evidence, the identification of fragmentary temples is very difficult. For example, inscriptions make it clear that a Roman temple stood at Qeren Naphtali, but no temple remains have yet been identified at the site. However, the architectural design usually makes it clear that a building was a place of ritual dedicated to one of the gods. In the agora at Beth Shean, two temples dating to the first century C.E. have been discovered, as well as a monumental podium temple façade facing northwest. North of the forum at Sussita/Hippos, a large podium temple is partially preserved, which was later opened up and converted into a wine press installation. The façade of a Roman temple has been reconstructed at Kedesh and is usually dated to the early second century C.E. Inscriptional evidence attests to Roman temples built by Herod in honor of the emperor Augustus and Roma. Identification of the remains of these temples is clear at Caesarea Maritima and Samaria Sebaste. However, the location of the third temple “near Banias” is still under discussion. Some have suggested the second phase of a temple complex at Omrit, 3 kilometers from Banias. At Banias, the remains of another late-first-century temple, this one dedicated to Zeus, can be seen, but the remains marked as the Augusteum at Banias bear little resemblance to temple foundations, making the identification doubtful. Excavators at Bethsaida have identified the remains of a Roman period temple dedicated to the emperor by Herod Philip, but other scholars have questioned these identifications. So the best answer is nine.
What Is It?
A. lead ampulla (tiny amphora)
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