An unguentarium (: unguentaria), also referred to as Balsamarium (: Balsamarii), Lacrimarium (: Lacrimarii) or tears vessel, is a small ceramic or glass bottle found frequently by archaeologists at Hellenistic and Roman sites, especially in cemeteries. Its most common use was probably as a container for oil, though it is also suited for storing and dispensing liquid and powdered substances. Some finds date into the early Christian era. From the 2nd to the 6th century they are more often made of blown glass rather than clay. A few examples are silver or alabaster.
Unguentaria were used as product packaging in commerce and for funerary practice. They are distributed throughout the Mediterranean region of the Roman Empire from Israel to Spain, and north into Britain and Germania. Their manufacture was nearly as widespread.
Forms and function
The term unguentarium is functional rather than descriptive; that is, it refers to the purpose for which this relatively small vessel is thought to have been used and is not typological by shape. In its early development, the shape was modeled in miniature after larger amphoras, which would have been the original bulk shipping containers for products sold in the unguentaria. An unguentarium is not always distinguished in the scholarly literature from an ampulla, a term from antiquity that may refer to these as well as other small vessels. In scholarship of the modern era, an unguentarium is sometimes called a lacrimarium ("tear-container") or balsamarium ("balsam-container"). All three terms reflect modern usage based on assumptions about their use, and no single word is found in ancient sources for the vessels.
Small vessels of two shapes, usually but not always without handles, are referred to as unguentaria: Fusiform – The fusiform shape (example here) is characteristic of Hellenistic unguentaria: a heavy ovoid body resting usually on a small distinct ring foot, with a long tubular neck or cylindrical stem. The shape is comparable to a spindle (Latin fusus, "spindle"). These ovoid unguentaria first appear in Cyprus around the turn of the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. and may have been Near Eastern in origin or influence. Early examples are similar in shape to the amphoriskos. They are believed to develop functionally from the lekythos, which they replace by the end of the 4th century BC. The fusiform unguentarium was in use for several centuries and the form shows many variations, including later examples with very slender profiles.
Piriform – The unguentarium with a footless body that is rounded or pear-shaped (Latin pirus, "pear") began to appear in the second half of the 1st century BC and is characteristic of the Roman era, particularly the early Principate. These are regularly associated with graves in the 1st century. The piriform unguentarium was in use for a limited period of about a hundred years and did not replace the fusiform. An exception to this chronology is the squat rounded unguentarium with painted bands found on the northeast coast of Spain and in other Iberian cemeteries, dated as early as the 5th century BC.
The word bulbous is used rather confusingly in the scholarship to describe both forms. "Bulbous" appears as a synonym for "piriform", but is applied descriptively to the fusiform to distinguish certain examples from more slender profiles.
Thin blown-glass bottles began to appear in Cyprus after the middle of the 1st century BC. The use of the new medium for unguentaria resulted in variations of form, including the thin, "test-tube" type. Glass unguentaria made in Thessaly, for example, often have a distinctive conical body, flared like the bell of a trumpet, or are squat and rounded with a very long neck; they come in a range of colors including aquamarine, pale green, and yellowish green, or may be colorless. This shape was popular in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and is also characteristic of Thrace and Cyprus.
Glass bird-shaped containers for cosmetics found at various Roman sites from Herculaneum to Spain have also been called unguentaria. In these examples, dating from the period of the piriform type, the neck has become a spout, and the profile is no longer vertical. As with other unguentaria, no clear distinction can be made between the use of these vessels for grooming in daily life, and their inclusion in tombs.