Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
An olivary probe is visible at one end of the circular-sectioned shaft of this cyathiscomele, while an elongated bowl is found at the opposite end (1). The oval bowl has a small chip missing from its tip. There are decorative ribs on the shaft where it transitions into 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 slightly shorter, cyathiscomele was published as part of a Swiss private collection; see N. Rauch, Instruments de chirurgie gréco-romains (Lausanne, 1961) 9 and 13, no 16. Also comparable are three instruments with more elaborate shafts from Vindonissa; see G. Döderlein, Antike medizinische Instrumente: Funde zu Vindonissa (Tuttlingen, 1980) 15. See also E. Künzl, Medizinische Instrumente aus Sepulkralfunden der römischen Kaiserzeit (Cologne, 1983) 98, fig. 78.
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
