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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1977.216.3250
Title
Stamp with Greek Inscription
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Bronze Stamp Seal
Classification
Tools and Equipment
Work Type
stamp
Date
3rd-4th century CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Asia
Period
Roman Imperial period
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/173033

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
3.9 x 12.5 x 4.9 cm (1 9/16 x 4 15/16 x 1 15/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 66.09; Sn, 4.87; Pb, 28.24; Zn, 0.24; Fe, 0.14; Ni, 0.06; Ag, 0.15; Sb, 0.1; As, 0.1; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.009; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The object was cast in one piece. The handle with its knob appears to have been cast by the lost-wax process. The letters are not perfectly shaped, and many seem to have undercuts, which suggests that they were not formed from a mold but were perhaps joined on to the base in the wax. Notched serrations along the top edges seem to be a decorative feature; some seem to have been reinforced with sharp chisel blows that have left very crisp marks, which could be modern. Some chatter marks also seem to be present along the side edges from the chasing of the cast.

There are clusters of small, black, iridescent crystals and waxy remains in interstices, as well as areas of reddish cuprite along the edges. The patina is mottle brown and olive green on the back. The surface is worn to the metal, which has oxidized to a brown color.


Francesca G. Bewer (submitted 2011)

Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: two lines in Greek,
    ACTEPIOV
    IOVΔEѠC
    [Transliteration: Aστεριου Ιουδεως. Translation: "Of Asterias, the Jew (?)"]

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Transfer from the Department of the Classics, Harvard University, Gift of Oric Bates
Accession Year
1977
Object Number
1977.216.3250
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This stamp is unique to the Harvard collection for having an inscription in Greek and for not having the inscription reversed. The impression left by this stamp would have been backwards. The upper edges of the stamp plate are decorated with notches; the comparatively small ring handle, which is attached to its back, bears a knob on top. A small scroll fills the corners between the handle and the plate, and a horizontal bar divides the two lines of text.

The stamp reads:
ACTEPIOV
IOVΔEѠC

Possibly translating as: “Of Asterias, the Jew.”

Each of the six Roman bronze stamps in the Harvard Art Museums consists of a plate, on which the die of the stamp is carved, and a ring, attached to the back of the plate, which serves as a handle for applying the stamp (1). With the exception of 1977.216.3250, Harvard’s stamps are approximately the same size (c. 5-6 cm long and 2-3 cm wide), and all are inscribed with text. Stamps were produced in a variety of shapes. Most are rectangular, but they could also be elliptical, circular, rhomboid, or in the shape of a tabella ansata, a foot, or, less commonly, a hand. Five of the six stamps in the Harvard Art Museums are rectangular. Four of these have two lines of writing inscribed on them; one other rectangular stamp contains a single line of text, which is limited to initials. The sixth stamp, 1977.216.1963, takes the shape of a foot and also has only one line of writing. This stamp appears to contain pseudo-alphabetic characters. Four others are inscribed in Latin, with the lettering raised and written backwards, a mirror image of the text the stamp would produce. 1977.216.3250 is inscribed in Greek letters but not written retrograde, meaning that the stamp’s impression would have been backwards.

Many types of objects in the ancient world bore stamped impressions, including amphorae, roof tiles, bricks, lamps, glass vessels, and terra sigillata (fine pottery). Textiles and bread were also sometimes stamped, and stamps like Harvard’s may have been used for such a purpose (2). Roof tiles and bricks were being stamped in Greece as early as the Archaic period. In the West, the earliest evidence for stamps comes from amphorae dated from the end of the fourth to the beginning of the third centuries BCE (3).

The texts of stamps most often refer to the name of the producer or manufacturer of the product in the genitive case (e.g., 1978.495.34 “of Cossinus Eutychianus”). In certain instances, the name is written using ligatures or abbreviations. Other stamps include an image such as a leaf (hedera) or an abstract pattern, while some stamps have writing in what seems to be an imitation of alphabetic characters, although it is clearly not Latin or Greek (4). In these cases, where the recipients of such goods were most likely illiterate, the presence of a stamp on the object may have sufficed to guarantee a certain level of quality. Stamps could have varying degrees of decoration along the border and may or may not have a horizontal element to divide separate lines of text (5). The extent a stamp was used varied according to workshop; certain workshops continued to use their stamps until the writing was no longer legible before replacing them (6).

NOTES:

1. For similar stamps, see H. Dressel, ed., Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum XV: Instrumentum Domesticum (Berolini, 1891, 1899); M. Buoncuore, “Signacula nel Museo Profano della Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,” Epigraphica 46 (1984): 158-67; and D. Manacorda, “Appunti sulla bollatura in età romana,” in The Inscribed Economy, ed. W. V. Harris (Ann Arbor, 1993) 37-54.

2. For more information on bread stamps, see C. L. Meyers and E. M. Meyers, “Another Jewish Bread Stamp?” Israel Exploration Journal 25.2-3 (1975): 154-55; and M. J. Milne “A Bronze Stamp from Boscoreale,” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 25.9 (1930): 188, 190.

3. G. Pucci, “Inscribed instrumentum and the ancient economy,” in Epigraphic Evidence: Ancient History from Inscriptions, ed. J. Bodel (New York, 2001) 137-90, esp. 143.

4. Ibid., 144.

5. Compare A. Oxé, H. Comfort, and P. Kenrick, Corpus Vasorum Arretinorum: A Catalogue of the Signatures, Shapes and Chronology of the Italian Sigillata, 2nd edn. (Bonn, 2000) 529-34, for a classification of the various types of stamps for terra sigillata.

6. Ibid., 13.


Rebecca R. Benefiel

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/31/2019 - 01/08/2020; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/04/2021 - 01/02/2022; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/02/2023 - 12/30/2023

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu