Throughout the ages, people have raised their glasses to celebrate victories, confirm treaties and unions, and honor memories. On certain occasions, some used a ryhton, a special drinking horn. These conical vessels have a spout at the bottom through which liquid could pour. In fact, the name rhyton comes from the Greek rheo, meaning “flow” or “stream.” Drinking horns—often made from actual horns—abound from prehistoric Eurasia. The earliest rhyta come from Crete and date to the Bronze Age (second millennium BCE), with spectacular examples shaped like bull’s heads from the Heraklion palace. As the vessel spread throughout the Mediterranean and […]
