Late Bronze Age II

Terracotta lentoid flask

A sign that may be in the undeciphered Cypro-Minoan script was engraved near the base of the handle before firing. There is little evidence for direct contact between Crete and Cyprus when the syllabic script Cypro-Minoan was first adopted around 1500 B.C. The transference of Minoan script to Cyprus from Crete probably occurred at a site on the coast of Syria, where both Cypriots and Minoans had active commercial relations. H. 10 5/16 in. (26.2 cm)

Date

1600 - 1050 BC

Accession No.

74.51.1312

Collection

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance

From Cyprus

References

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. CXLII.1060, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 376, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 68, pp. 44-45, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.