A carchesium ( Latin), carchesion, or karkhesion ( Greek: καρχήσιον, karkhḗsion) was a kind of drinkware of the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is variously glossed as a cup, [1] beaker, [1] or goblet. [2]
Carchesia seem to have had several different forms [3] but were generally somewhat elongated and narrower in the middle than at the top or bottom. [4] They were used for wine in ancient Greece [5] and Rome, [6] as well as milk. [7] They sometimes bore narrow handles. [8] Carchasia were notably used in ritual libation, with Vergil having Aeneas pour out 2 of pure wine, 2 of fresh milk, and 2 of sacred blood over the tomb of his father Anchises. [9] It was also used for pouring out offerings of honey. [1] In late Antiquity, Sidonius associated the vessel with the Chaldeans of Babylonia. [10]
The cup gave its name to the version of a crow's nest used on Greek and Roman ships and to the crane mechanism that could be operated from it. [2] It was glossed in Old English as bune, [11] which appeared repeatedly in the dragon's hoard in Beowulf, probably to denote its antiquity and exoticness to listeners. [12] A large carchesium was given by King Charles the Simple of France to the Abbey of Saint Denis in the early 10th century. [13]
A carchesium ( Latin), carchesion, or karkhesion ( Greek: καρχήσιον, karkhḗsion) was a kind of drinkware of the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is variously glossed as a cup, [1] beaker, [1] or goblet. [2]
Carchesia seem to have had several different forms [3] but were generally somewhat elongated and narrower in the middle than at the top or bottom. [4] They were used for wine in ancient Greece [5] and Rome, [6] as well as milk. [7] They sometimes bore narrow handles. [8] Carchasia were notably used in ritual libation, with Vergil having Aeneas pour out 2 of pure wine, 2 of fresh milk, and 2 of sacred blood over the tomb of his father Anchises. [9] It was also used for pouring out offerings of honey. [1] In late Antiquity, Sidonius associated the vessel with the Chaldeans of Babylonia. [10]
The cup gave its name to the version of a crow's nest used on Greek and Roman ships and to the crane mechanism that could be operated from it. [2] It was glossed in Old English as bune, [11] which appeared repeatedly in the dragon's hoard in Beowulf, probably to denote its antiquity and exoticness to listeners. [12] A large carchesium was given by King Charles the Simple of France to the Abbey of Saint Denis in the early 10th century. [13]