Geometric Neck-Handled Amphora (Storage Vessel): Prothesis (Laying out of Corpse), Mourners, Chariots

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this ceramic as ceramic and credits Workshop of Athens 894 (Greek, Attic, Late Geometric llb).

The museum's collection notes: This neck-amphora bears multiple forms of decoration related to funerary ritual. On the neck panels, mourners beat their heads or tear out their hair. Some surround a bier, a platform where the body of the deceased lies beneath a checkered cloth. Further down, a procession of two-horse chariots moves around the vase, whether headed to the cemetery or the battlefield. The snakes applied to the handles, neck, and rim may all allude to the underworld.