Especially popular in the near East of the Bronze Age, rhytons (Gr. rhyta) were common for ceremonial purposes, displays of wealth or rank, or everyday imbibing. Animal-shaped drinking vessels originate from the humble bulls' horns and are also used in ancient Greece and Persia. In Georgia, eastern Europe, they're known as kantsi.
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When Romans enter history c. 8th century BCE, they enthusiastically adopt the rhyton. 1600 years later Vikings also enjoy the use of drinking horns and rhytons.
Early drinking horns come from horns of domestic bulls or wild Aurochs who still roam the forests and plains during the Bronze Age. Later, Romans hunt them nearly to extinction, and by the time of the Vikings Aurochs no longer exist in Scandinavia.
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Drinking vessels are often unique objects of trade or heritage as the mass market phenomenon was still an approaching blip in the distance. In ancient times each drinking horn or rhyton made from real horn is hand crafted.
People have hundreds of years experience with metals. It's possible to cast molten metals, so a silver or goldsmith can produce similar work for clients. Bronze is also a castable metal, an alloy of tin and copper.
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Rhyta range from the basic drinking horns to elaborate vessels of fine craftsmanship in the shape of an animal's head or body. Rhytons can be stylized to expressive, depending on artist and place of origin.
They might be dedicated to a specific god. Especially in the Greek world, the horns may be embellished at the drinking end with the head of Dionysus, god of wine, theater and madness.
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In some rhyton constructions, the beverage goes into the flaring horn and the comes out the mouth of the animal. Other rhytons like the one above have filling tubes at back or top, and again the person drinks from the mouth of the beast.
Drinking from a rhyton is often a show of skill. Some rhytons are impossible to set down without spilling the contents. Rhytons range from intricate designs embellished with gold, silver or gems, to plain ceramic.
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The conical rhyton form has been known in the Aegean region since the Bronze Age, and drinking horns in general go back thousands of years. Near East artisans are creating animal-shaped stone vessels c. 6000 BCE. The earliest true rhytons appear in Thrace and Scythia (Iran).
The Minoans of Crete were the first in the Aegean Sea region to produce rhytons. Subjects and rhyton shapes include wild animals such as lions or deer, domestic animals such as bulls, boats or a bunch of grapes.
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They can be four-footed, two-footed or consist of a horn with animal head resting on a base. The depiction of a conflict, hero or scene of the gods may be engraved on the horn or another part of the vessel. In Roman times, some rhytons were made of glass.
The two bulls above are twin divinities Ḫurri & Šeri of the Anatolians. They pull the chariot of the Weather God Teshub.
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