After entering Bodrum Castle, one of the first exhibitions you’ll encounter is at the Amphora Park, where there are many different shapes and styles of Amphora from different points in history. There are more clusters of Amphora dotted around the castle in different exhibitions and halls.
Where do Amphora get their name?
The name of the amphora was formed form two Greek words:
- anfi, meaning two-sided, and
- phora meaning transportable.
- The plural amphora is amphorae or amphoras.
What were Amphora used for?
An amphora is a type of container of a characteristic shape and size, descending from at least as early as the Neolithic Period. Amphorae were used in vast numbers for the transport and storage of various products, both liquid and dry, but mostly for wine. It is most often ceramic, but examples in metals and other materials have been found.
Amphorae were created as a way to store and transport wine, olive oil, olives and grain, and according to type of the cargo, amphorae were sealed with resin, gum or wax. Their shape (pointed ends) allowed for easy storage and transportation
The stamps on the handles of amphorae reveals the names of the manufacturers and city; for example, Knidians used bull heads as their symbol; Coans used crabs and Rhodians used roses.
Historical Importance
Amphora play a key role with archaeologist to locate the site of ancient shipwrecks. Since the old wooden hulls have long since disappeared, amphorae are usually one of the few surviving objects.
Amphorae are of great use to maritime archaeologists, as they often indicate the age of a shipwreck and the geographic origin of the cargo.
They are occasionally so well preserved that the original content is still present, providing information on foodstuffs and mercantile systems. Amphorae were too cheap and plentiful to return to their origin-point and so, when empty, they were broken up at their destination.
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