Glass bowl with inscription

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Translucent purple glass. Slightly in-turned rim with a sharp, knocked-off edge; body somewhat less than hemispherical in shape; a single, small handle was attached to the side. On exterior, decoration of wheel-cut lines comprising two elements: (a) a series of diagonal lines running around the side of the bowl, with a matching pattern of lines roughly centred on the base, forming a cross; and (b) an inscription in double-line letters running around the bowl between the two elements of linear decoration, starting to the right of the handle; the beginning and end of the inscription marked by a series of diagonal lines. The inscription reads in Greek ΠIE ZHCAIC, meaning "Drink so that you may live." Broken into three fragments and repaired, with parts of the rim and most of the handle missing; severe weathering and brilliant iridescence.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art