PILGRIM FLASK
Byzantine (Early Christian) Period, 4th C AD
In the Early Christian Period, Christianity was active in several centres,
one of which was Constantinople, the centre of Byzantine culture. Displayed
here is a Pilgrim Flask. As the name implies, it would be used for storage
of drinking water (or perhaps olive oil) to be used on long journeys through
desert terrain where it is essential to ensure that travellers had adequate
supply of drinking water. The roughness of the jar attests to its common
usage and also for the fact that samples of such flasks have survived the
ravages of time. |
DESCRIPTION:
It is a two-handed flask and has a round, almost wheel-like body with
a narrow neck which was easy to drink from and esy to stopper. The two
handles ran from the neck to the shoulder, to which a strap or cord could
be fixed. It was probably one of these which David took from the sleeping
Saul, and which Elijah found beside him when he woke up one day in the
desert during his escape from Ahab.
Handbook of life in Bible times, pg. 77.
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