LOT 0833

Roman Glass Goblet with Cut Design

CIRCA 100-300 A.D.

4 1/8 in. (105 grams, 10.5 cm).

Translucent with straight sides narrowing to the dimpled base, flared and rolled rim, the body decorated with two horizontal ribbed lines.

Swiss private collection, Bern.
Swiss private collection, Basel.
with Sayd & Fayez Barakat & Sons, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Shaher Barakat, Jerusalem.

Cf. Kelley, M., A study of Late Hellenistic and Early Roman Glass in Jerusalem from excavated sites: understanding local production and the economic status of the population from the time of the Hasmoneans to Hadrian, p.448, pl.8, nos.12-13, for similar incised beakers found in North Jerusalem.

The Hebrew word 'zekhukhith' (glass) appeared in the Old Testament, but it was frequently used in the Mishnaic Hebrew and in correlation with the Aramaic 'zegugita'. In the Talmudic times white and coloured, transparent glasses were very valuable. This magnificent goblet was found on Mons Scopus, in Jerusalem and it shows the skill and the capacity of the Roman glass blowers of the time. After the establishment and unification of the Roman Empire under Augustus (27 B.C.), glass manufacturing quickly travelled throughout the Empire, and with the ease of production, glass entered the same sphere of use and popularity as metal and clay vessels.