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]

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Citations

Bibliography

• Frank, Roberta (2005), "Three 'Cups' and a Funeral in Beowulf", Latin Learning and English Lore..., vol. I, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 407–420, ISBN  978-0-8020-8919-9.
• Rich, Anthony (1849), "Carchesium", The Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon..., London: Longman, Brown, Green, & Longmans, pp. 119–120.
• Whitehouse, David (1997), "130. Cup with Two Handles", Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, vol. I, New York: Hudson Hills Press, pp. 90–91, ISBN  978-0-87290-139-1.
• Yates, James (1842), "Carchesium", A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: Taylor & Walton, pp. 197–198.