Late Roman Amphora 5 (LRA 5)
Egypt/Delta/Lower Egypt, Israel-Palestinian Authority/Southern Coastal Plain
c.100 CE to c.700 CE
Late Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic - Umayyad/Abbasid/Tulunid
General Information
This style of amphora, often referred to as 'bag-shaped' globular amphora, was produced in Palestine and Egypt throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods, and seems to have been associated with fine wines. There is a great amount of variation both in shape and fabric over the years and according to the production region. It has been recorded all around the Eastern Mediterranean in fairly large quantities from the 1st century CE to the early decades of the 8th century CE. Paul Reynolds notes that the “LRA 5 was a constant and major import at Carthage and Rome throughout the 5th century CE, but notably not imported into Gaul and eastern Spain until the late 5th and 6th centuries, and then only in relatively small numbers” (2005: 573).
Reynolds records another type of LRA 5 from Beirut in early 5th century contexts with “a fairly fine red fabric with moderate line spalling and reduced surfaces with painted decoration, a ‘classic’ tall collar rim, and a ridge on the lower neck” (2005: 574). Meanwhile, there occurs “occasionally in 6th century contexts a thick-walled version of LRA 5 in a dense brown fabric akin to that of the Gaza LRA 4. Some fine to coarse sandy, often lime-rich, pale orange-brown examples, sometimes decorated with painted red bands, are very probably Caesarea products” (Reynolds, 2005: 574).
This type of amphora has a globular body, generally wider at the base than the shoulders, which led to the commonly used classification of the "bag-shaped amphorae". It bears two ring handles on the rounded shoulders, and the neck varies depending on th...
Birsama (Israel/Negev)
Ma'agan Mikhael B Shipwreck (Israel/Carmel coastal plain)
Pella/Fiḥl (Jordan/Jordan Valley)
