A Comment on the Two Mold-Blown Glass Vessels from Anatolia: Christian Affiliations in Roman Imperial Glass

Authors : Ayşe Emel Erten, Güven Sevencan

Pages : 11-22

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Publication Date : 2025-05-16

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Two glass vessels from Anatolian findspots are interesting as they not only demonstrate the presence of Anatolia within the larger geographical distribution of certain mold-blown glass types but also reflect Christianity’s impact on Roman glass vessels. Both the beaker with an inscription of a phrase taken from the New Testament found in a tomb in the necropolis at Smintheion and the head-flask discovered in a tomb at Seleucia at Calycadnum with a chi-rho monogram at the bottom have Christian connotations. The beaker from Smintheion belongs to a group dated to the first century AD and can be regarded as one of the earliest glass objects displaying the penetration of Christian tradition into the Roman culture and daily life. The phrase is surely a secular invitation for a dinner or meeting but its roots directly reflect the impact of the new religion. The head-flask from Seleucia is dated much later than our first example and belongs to the second half of the third and the second half of the fourth century AD. Although the child’s face on two sides of the flask was interpreted as being Eros or infant Dionysus (purely pagan figures), the chi-rho monogram at the bottom could easily be one of the earliest applications of it as a Christian symbol on artifacts after its first use by the soldiers of Constantine the Great in the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. Therefore, the mold-blown flask- with its pagan and Christian connotations- can easily be interpreted as an excellent representative of the transition from paganism to Christianity in the Roman world.
Keywords : Roman glass, mold-blown vessels, glass vessels with inscriptions, chi-rho monogram, head-flasks.

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