Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
One end of this cyathiscomele terminates in an olivary probe, while the other end terminates in a pointed bowl (1). The circular-sectioned shaft tapers before both the probe and the bowl. Molding is visible on the shaft before the transition to the bowl. The molding consists of a bead with two thin raised ribs on one side and three on the other.
Greek and Roman medical instruments, many of which were described by ancient authors, have been found, sometimes in sets, throughout the ancient world (2). The instruments could have been used for more than one function, making precise classification difficult in some instances. A cyathiscomele is a type of scoop probe, with a spoon terminal at one end and a probe at the other, used for stirring and applying medicines, among other uses, including cosmetic (3).
NOTES:
1. A very similar although longer cyathiscomele was published as part of a Swiss private collection; see N. Rauch, Instruments de chirurgie gréco-romains (Lausanne, 1961) 15 and 24, no. 93. See also E. Künzl, Medizinische Instrumente aus Sepulkralfunden der römischen Kaiserzeit (Cologne, 1983) 89, fig. 67.8.
2. 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.
3. Milne 1907 (supra 2) 61-63; Michaelides 1984 (supra 2) 326; and R. Jackson and S. La Niece, “A Set of Roman Medical Instruments from Italy,” Britannia 17 (1986): 119-67, esp. 158.
David Smart
