David Gagoshidze Georgian National Museum (Georgia, Tbilisi) Bronze Patera from the Palace of Dedoplis Gora
Summary In 2019, archaeological excavations revealed a bronze patera south of room N 27 of the palace of Dedoplis Gora, in the so-called “open space”. The bowl of the patera is damaged by strong fire. Only the handle decorated with flutes and ending with a sculptural image of a ram’s head with twisted horns has been preserved in good condition. Only fifteen paterae of Roman period are known in Georgia and they belong to one of the most mass-produced items made in south-Italian (Campagne) bronze workshops (except for two paterae from “Tsikhisdziri hoard”). They were extensively produced in the first century and early second century. In typological terms, the patera from Dedoplis Gora belongs to the so-called “Canterbury” type. Most of the paterae discovered on the territory of Georgia are part of grave goods, while the two ones found in the palace of Dedoplis Gora represent an exception. Paterae are usually revealed together with pitchers, which is predictable given their function. Scholars paid attention to the fact that many monuments depict religious servants holding a patera and a pitcher. It provided basis to suggest that the patera is a vessel used in the ritual of offering. According to M. Ivashenko, the paterae and the pitchers discovered together were used for washing hands before feasts. This suggestion, which implies both sacral and “secular” functions of the patera, is supported by the third-fourth cent. murals discovered in Bulgaria, which depicts the morning routine of a dignitary and a servant holding a pitcher and a patera-like vessel. The discovery in the palace of Dedoplis Gora provides another evidence for this suggestion. Apparently, the practice of ritual handwashing in Georgia was common in the Roman period and it is presumable that this practice was adopted by Georgians from the Greeks as early as in the Achaemenid epoch, which is documented by the facts of discovering Achaemenid and post-Achaemenid period paterae in Vani, Dablagomi and Takhtidziri.
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