amphora, the
from the greek words "αμφί"(on both sides) and "φέρω" (carry): vessel with long ovoid body and a considerably narrower neck made in various sizes from the smaller perfume oil container to the large storage receivers of liquids and solids. It stands on a small foot and it bears two invariable vertical handles on either side. Some of the distinguished types of the amphorae are these whose lower part is tapering to the point (narrow bottomed), the neck type, the Nicosthenian, the Nola, the Panathenaic, the Tyrrhenian, the SOS type.

black figure technique
Decorative technique of vase painting. It involves painting figures in black silhouette on the pale clay, while the anatomic details are given in incised lines.

lekythos, the
A perfumed oil container with a narrow mouth and one vertical handle. There are lots of variants of this shape. They are predominant during the 5th c. BC. A common find is also the aryballoid lekythos with a globular and squat body. White lekyhtoi were used solely as votive offerings in burials.

omphalos phiale
An open, flat bottom shallow bowl with a hemispherical bulge (omphalos= navel) at its bottom.

pelike, the
another version of the amphora. It appears for the first time in 520 BC. It consists of a globular body, a short neck, a projecting thick rim,vertical handles and a short base. Due to its stability, merchants used to store in it valuable ointments for sale.

phiale
A shallow vessel with an open rim.

pyxis, the
Small vessel with a lid. Women kept inside cosmetics or jewels. It bears no handles except for the skyphoid pyxis of Sicily.

red figure technique, the
Decorative technique in pottery, in which the figures are represented in red colour on the vase's dark background, while the details of the clothes and of the anatomy are given with incised lines.

rhyton, the
libation vessel with an outlet at the bottom of the vessel allowing the slow outflow of the liquid.