Pilgrim flask

This vessel has a drum-shaped body, small loop handles at the shoulder, and a narrow mouth. It is made of a yellowish clay, with an opaque white glaze. It was excavated at Susa in what is today southwestern Iran. Susa was the capital of the Elamite kingdom from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, and was subsequently one of the capitals of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. It continued to be an important city under the Parthians, who conquered Susa around 140 B.C., and was the site of a Parthian mint until ca. A.D. 53. This vessel was excavated in 1937 by the French Délégation en Perse and turned over to the Tehran Museum, which in 1948 presented it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in exchange for surveying equipment. It is not clear where exactly at the site this flask was found; similar flasks, however, have been found in tombs of Parthian date in the ‘Ville des Artisans,’ an eastern suburb of the ancient city.

Vessels of this shape are often called ‘pilgrim flasks’ because of their resemblance to the souvenir vessels sold at Christian pilgrimage sites around the Mediterranean, beginning in the late Roman Empire. Yet this shape existed long before the advent of Christianity, so this term is somewhat misleading. The small size and narrow mouth of this vessel certainly lend themselves to its use as personal flask for water or some other drink, much like a modern canteen.