In the material culture of classical antiquity, a patera (Latin pronunciation: [ˈpatɛra]) or phiale (Ancient Greek: φιάλη [pʰi.á.lɛː])[2] is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation (omphalos, "belly button") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, in which case it is sometimes called a mesomphalic phiale. It typically has no handles, and no feet.
Although the two terms may be used interchangeably, particularly in the context of Etruscan culture, phiale is more common in reference to Greek forms, and patera in Roman settings.[3] The form should be distinguished from a drinking cup with handles, and often a stem, of which the most common type is called a kylix, and a circular platter with a pair of C-handles is not a patera, though a few paterae have single long straight handles (see trulla below).
- ^ Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia 122.jpg
- ^ There is no meaningful distinction between the two terms: Nancy Thompson de Grummond and Erika Simon, The Religion of the Etruscans (University of Texas Press, 2006), p. 171; Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, North Pontic Archaeology: Recent Discoveries and Studies (Brill, 2001), p. 239; Rabun Taylor, The Moral Mirror of Roman Art (Cambridge University Press, 2008), p. 104, 269; Rebecca Miller Ammerma, The Sanctuary of Santa Venera at Paestum (University of Michigan Press, 2002), pp. 64, 66.
- ^ Patera is not to be confused with the Greek (Πατέρας) Patéras or Father.