Heron-Shaped Aryballos (oil vessel), 580 BCE Miletus, Greece at the Cleveland Art Museum in Cleveland, Ohio

Heron-Shaped Aryballos (oil vessel), 580 BCE Miletus, Greece at the Cleveland Art Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. 

In the 6th century BC, a particular type of vessel for scented oil was produced in Corinth, Rhodes, and along the western coast of Asia Minor. Primarily animal forms, they are made of unglazed fired clay with painted decoration. This example in the form of a heron was crafted by a Milesian potter. The bird rests with its delicately curving and counter-curving neck nearly touching the ground; the feathers are defined by incision and painted black slip.  Miletus was settled around 1000 BCE.  By 600 BCE, Miletus had become a wealthy center of trade exchanging goods and ideas with the cities of Egypt, Persia and Western Greece.  Greece was not yet a political entity at the time, but shared a Homeric culture with other Greek city states. Greek philosophers Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes were all from Miletus.

Image: Ceramic Heron-Shaped Aryballos 580 BCE Miletus Greece at the Cleveland Art Museum courtesy of the museum (cc 0).

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