Overview

Although the treasury of King Croesus held great quantities of gold and silver plate, the Lydians clearly loved fine ceramic wares imported from Greece. This preference was entirely appropriate for the capital of the expansive Lydian Kingdom, which occupied a pivotal position between the city states of the Greeks and the gigantic empire of the Persians. The importation of Greek pottery corresponds to the visits from poets, philosophers, and politicians mentioned by the historian Herodotus. This collaborative work consists of three generously illustrated sections presenting the ceramic finds excavated at Sardis, but produced in the mainland Greek centers of Corinth, Athens, and Sparta. Judith Snyder Schaeffer analyzes the Corinthian imports, Nancy H. Ramage the Attic, and Crawford H. Greenewalt, Jr., the Lakonian. Their study of this material from the Harvard-Cornell excavations at Sardis offers new evidence of the taste for specific Greek wares and shapes in Anatolia before the time of Alexander the Great.

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9780674171602

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Reviews

The prestigious series of monographs on the results of the Harvard-Cornell excavations at Sardis, nine volumes of which have already appeared, is now enriched by the publication of a tenth, devoted to the imported Corinthian, Attic, and Lakonian pottery. Written by three scholars whose prose styles are refreshingly different, yet compatible, this volume catalogues finds from more than 30 years of excavation...This book is a pleasure to read and use. It is logically organized and written with clarity and insight. The catalogue entries are both concise and complete, with up-to-date references. A useful concordance of finds by inventory number and a comprehensive index accompany the text. The plates include plans of the site of Sardis and photographs, often accompanied by profile drawings, of the majority of the catalogued items. The overall quality of the illustrations is excellent...This volume makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of the nature and distribution of imported mainland Greek pottery in western Anatolia. It should prove a valuable tool for vase specialists, as well as for those interested in ancient Mediterranean trade patterns and the chronological application of stratified pottery. We eagerly await further monographs on the pottery from Sardis. -- Evelyn E. Bell American Journal of Archaeology

Author Information

Judith Snyder Schaeffer has taught Classical Art at Columbia University and the University of California, Riverside. Nancy H. Ramage is Charles H. Dana Professor of the Humanities and Arts Emerita at Ithaca College. Crawford H. Greenewalt, Jr., was Professor of Classical Archaeology, Emeritus, at the University of California, Berkeley.

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