Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This double-ended instrument has a flat spatula at one end and a small, hemispherical scoop at the other. The shaft is twisted so that the spatula and scoop are set at 90 degrees to each other. There is a large, bead-shaped rib at each end of the shaft near the spatula and scoop. The spatula is wider at the tip and tapers slightly to the shaft. Scratches are visible on the inside of the scoop and at the spatula’s base.
Greek and Roman medical instruments, many of which were described by ancient authors, have been found, sometimes in sets, throughout the ancient world (1). The instruments could have been used for more than one function, making precise classification difficult in some instances. A spatula is a probe with one flattened, spatula-shaped end and a probe on the other used for stirring and applying medicines, among other uses (2). Spatulae are among the most common instrument types (3). Scoop probes could be used for stirring and applying medicines, cleaning ears or other, including cosmetic, uses (4).
NOTES:
1. J. S. Milne, Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times (Oxford, 1907) 1-9; and D. Michaelides, “A Roman Surgeon’s Tomb from Nea Paphos,” Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 1984: 315-32, esp. 321-23.
2. Milne 1907 (supra 1) 58-61; Michaelides 1984 (supra 1) 325-26; and R. Jackson and S. La Niece, “A Set of Roman Medical Instruments from Italy,” Britannia 17 (1986): 119-67, esp. 158.
3. L. J. Bliquez, Roman Surgical Instruments and Other Minor Objects in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (Mainz, 1994) 46-47.
4. Milne 1907 (supra 1) 61-68; Michaelides 1984 (supra 1) 325-36; Jackson and La Niece 1986 (supra 2) 157-58.
David Smart
