Lid from Roman cinerary urn, 50-225 AD

Period: Dating: 50 AD–225 AD Origin: Roman World, Western Roman World Material: Glass (all types) Physical: 12.6cm. (4.9 in.) - 150 g. (5.3 oz.) Catalog: GLS.MM.00699 Links to other views: ⇒ Larger View if scripting is off, click the ⇒ instead. • • •

This transparent blue glass lid was made to close a Roman urn containing human remains. The slightly concave top surface is raised, peaking in a pinched knob. “Often protected by a lead container, the glass cinerary urn was common in areas where cremation was practiced… The fact that they have not been found in settlements, military or civil, only in graves and columbaria, suggests the vessels were made specifically for funerary purposes and were not household jars in secondary use… Glass cinerary urns were used over a long period of time, roughly from the second half of the first to the early third century” (Stern 2001:51). Parallel Ernesto Wolf Collection, #50 “Lidded cinerary urn with M-shaped handles” (Stern 2001). Bibliography (for this item) Stern, E. Marianne 2001 Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass; 10 BCE-700 CE; Ernesto Wolf Collection. Hatje Cantz Publishers, Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany. (51)