Comparison and The Contrast Between Classical Greek Amphora With Hercules and Early Japanese Jomon Vessel
Write an essay and Compare and contrast between classical Greek amphora with
Hercules and early Japanese Jomon vessel
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Object Description
Classical Greek Amphora
Amphora is an English word for amphoreus in Greek; the name is used to define a jar
with two vertical handles used to carry food and other eatable items. The jar has a wider bottom
which enabled it to carry a lot of food and thinner top which kept the contents inside the jar at a
regulated temperature, the thinner top also made it easy for people to carry food around without
necessarily spilling it. The exterior layer of the jar is brown in color and has some black Greek
paintings of a man armed with bows and arrows fighting of an animal, besides the animal and the
man there are paintings of flowers that are intertwined throughout the jar. The upper thinner part
of the jar also has consecutive flower paintings all-round the jar making it more attractive to look
at, the top and the bottom of the jar have extended parts which at the top assist with the closer of
the jar and the bottom assist with the balance of the jar on the ground.
Japanese Jomon Vessel
The dynamic swirling appearance of the "flame-rimmed" deep bowl (kaen Doki) is one of
the most unique Japan artifacts created before the civilization of the region, the irregular shape of
the vessel thinner bottom which widens to the top. The top artifact of the vessel is what makes
the vase highly exceptional, there are circular shaped carvings which go round the jar, on both
left and right sides of the jar the top part is protruded above the uppermost layer of the jar
creating a handle-like shape (The Met 150, 2020, p. 1). The extensions cannot however be used
as handles since they are very thin and have very small holes around them which makes it hard
for a human hand to go through them. The vessel top has a goldish color which seems to be
fading in some parts of the topmost layer, the bottom has a faded brown color that matches with
CLASSICAL GREEK AMPHORA VS. JAPANESE JOMON VESSEL 3
the top part of the art. The vessel also has carvings around it that go round the vessel making it
more cultural and traditional.
Historical context and Background
Classical Greek Amphora
The traditional average capacity of an amphora was 20 to 25 liters, the vessels were used
to carry wine, olive oil, honey, milk, olives, dried fish, cereals, and water. The vessels were also
used to store ashes for dead people who had been cremated, the man and the animal symbols on
the side of the jar attributed to Greek heroes who supposedly fought off wild beasts and skinned
them inheriting their strengths and ferocity. Cartwright (2016, p. 1) explains that the recurrence
theme of Greek art on the jar symbolizes the triumph of civilization over the wilderness of the
earth which is symbolized by the lion, since the classical Greek amphora was used to transport
items from one place to other they were given stamps on the neck, rim, or handle of the jar to
show the origin of the items. The stamp provides information like the date of manufacture and
expiry, the manufacturer of the item, and also helped authorities monitor and control the custom
duties of all items in the region.
The Greek vessel represents an important part of the Greek traditional designs and
culture, the amphora represents a great part of the pottery activity among Greeks, bronze age
pithoi vessels were the very first type of vessels to be used by the Minoans and Mycenaean’s
who were among the very first people to move to Greek and settle in the region. According to
Cartwright (2018, p. 1), The traditionalism of pottery grew in the region and within a short
period of time Greeks had mastered the art of creating quality and attractive pots which is today
considered a great part of Greek artwork history. Wine drinking created a great part of the Greek
CLASSICAL GREEK AMPHORA VS. JAPANESE JOMON VESSEL 4
culture among men and women had to come up with ways in which they could conserve the
drink to stay fresh and transport it in huge amounts for their husbands. Traditional amphora is
created by women which is also a highly cultural activity among Greeks, women were required
to stay home and take care of their husbands while men went out to hunt or fight for their
country.
Japanese Jomon Vessel
Japanese artwork has lived in many forms, paintings, fashion, and pottery, the Jomon
vessel is among the many Jomon pottery artifacts created by ancient Japanese during the Jomon
period. According to Pearson (2007, p. 361), the Jomon vessel began its inception around 14,500
BC putting the Japanese pottery art among the oldest arts that exist in the world today. The
Jomon vessel was only created by women for storage of different types of foods and wine, the
vessel was however used in storing food or wine that would be consumed immediately since the
shape of the vessel does not allow it to have a lead and the food lose its quality in a short period
of time if kept in the vessel for long. Unlike other types of vessels created during the Jomon
period in Japan, this vessel was not used for cooking or heating food just storing the food in its
natural condition.
The creation of the pot required clay to be heated at approximately 600-900 degrees
Celsius to increase the rigidity of the clay enhancing the general quality of the pot created.
Pearson (2007, p. 368) indicates that the decorations on the vessel represented the Japanese
culture in different ways marking the different parts of Japan’s history, however, the idea of
pottery was borrowed from foreign cultures which had already been practicing pottery for the
longest time possible.
CLASSICAL GREEK AMPHORA VS. JAPANESE JOMON VESSEL 5
Comparison
Both amphora and Japanese Jomon vessel were hand made from clay and a combination
of shells or ceramics by women. Additionally, both vessels had decorations which represented
their culture together with a clay stopper that was used to seal them or reeds. Besides, both had
improvements and stages which generated better versions of vessels. With each stage, marked
improvement of the work due to new technology improvised in their creation. Besides, both
vessels represented or served as a symbol of their culture for both nations and marked an era or
stage in their history. Additionally, both vessels held significant meaning in history and were
widely used by generations for various reasons. They were all inspired by a foreign culture, but
later they owned the designs as they made them different and in a unique manner (Schmidt and
Seguchi, 2014).
Besides, both were made in categories like for Jomon, it comprised of five categories that
characterized the Japanese culture in every type. The bowls ranged from deep, medium depth,
shallow, long necks narrow mouths to the bowls with spouts. The flat bottoms were the standard
or dominating bowls that concentrated the Japanese culture and had a lot of details regarding
their culture. Besides, due to the use of amphora in transportation, the vessels had four distinctive
types which had different colors for each type like orange-red, black, purple-red and white,
which helped to resist the wear and tear of everyday use as well as the kiln heat. The design of
amphora evolved from the bronze age and had two types. The types are the neck-amphora which
comprises of a neck joining the shoulder at a sharp angle together with belly amphora which has
curves from the foot up to the neck (Foley et al., 2012).
Contrast
CLASSICAL GREEK AMPHORA VS. JAPANESE JOMON VESSEL 6
Jomon pottery came into existence in 10,500 B.C to 300 B.C in a Japanese history of
Paleolithic era. An American zoologist is credited with the development of Jomon ceramic art.
He created it from an Omori shell-mound found near Tokyo. Its twisting cords nature on their
exterior side formed the name Jomon which created the Jomon period for Japanese art. The
Chinese traditions and culture inspired the pottery of Jomon, and the pottery dwelt more in the
eastern part of the nation (Habu, 2004). In Japan, the Jomon pottery was used for outdoor
cooking and boiling water for household use. The Jomon pottery of Japanese has a smaller
surface area that is flatter and has a little prominent feature exposed in it. They also have
cylindrical shapes which combined clay arts with crushed shells or fibers. The modelling
comprised of smoothening the pottery first then coiled, padded and shaped according to their
type.
Contrary, Amphora vessel appeared in the period between 3400-2800 B.C in Greek. The
amphora vessel consists of a narrow neck compared to the body of the vessel. They were widely
used in trade or transportation of substances as well as in the storage of solids materials like
grain and liquids. The vessels were widely used to store wine. They have two rounded handles
that aided in transportation; thus, the name amphora, which originated from Greek and means
carried on both sides. However, the amphora design was adopted from the culture of the eastern
Mediterranean by Greeks, which inspired them to create the vessels that represent their culture.
They are also characterized with a pointed bottom which provided ease in staying upright or
while they were positioned in the sand or when assembling them.
CLASSICAL GREEK AMPHORA VS. JAPANESE JOMON VESSEL 7
References
Cartwright, M. (2016, August 30). Amphora. Ancient History
Encyclopedia. https://www.ancient.eu/Amphora/#:~:text=An%20amphora%20(Greek%3A%20
amphoreus),design%20from%20the%20eastern%20Mediterranean
Cartwright, M. (2018, March 16). Ancient Greek pottery. Ancient History
Encyclopedia. https://ancient.eu/Greek_Pottery/
Foley, B. P., Hansson, M. C., Kourkoumelis, D. P., & Theodoulou, T. A. (2012). Aspects of
Ancient Greek trade re-evaluated with amphora DNA evidence. Journal of
Archaeological Science, 39(2), 389-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.025
Habu, J. (2004). The Ancient Jomon of Japan. The Ancient Jomon of
Japan . https://www.researchgate.net/publication/200033022_The_Ancient_Jomon_of_Japan
Pearson, R. (2007). Debating Jomon social complexity. Asian perspectives, 361-388.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46734989_Debating_Jomon_Social_Complexity
Schmidt, R. W., & Seguchi, N. (2014). Jomon Culture and the peopling of the Japanese
archipelago: advancements in the fields of morphometrics and ancient DNA. Jomon
Culture and the peopling of the Japanese archipelago: advancements in the fields of
morphometrics and ancient
DNA . https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281036097_Jomon_Culture_and_the_p
eopling_of_the_Japanese_archipelago_advancements_in_the_fields_of_morphometrics_
and_ancient_DNA
CLASSICAL GREEK AMPHORA VS. JAPANESE JOMON VESSEL 8
The Met 150. (2020). “flame-rimmed” deep bowl (kaen doki) | Japan | Middle Jomon period
(Ca. 3500–2500 B.C.) | The Met. The Metropolitan Museum of
Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/44905
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