Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The thin, flat blade is widest at the handle then tapers gradually in the middle before swelling slightly before terminating in an oblong olivary probe (1). The blade overhangs each side of the shaft, which is quadrangular in section rather than circular. On the shaft just below the blade are two beads.
Greek and Roman medical instruments, many of which were described by ancient authors, have been found, sometimes in sets, throughout the ancient world (2). The instruments could have been used for more than one function, making precise classification difficult in some instances. A spatula is a probe with one flattened, spatula-shaped end and a probe on the other used for stirring and applying medicines, among other uses (3). Spatulae are among the most common instrument types (4).
NOTES:
1. A similar but more elaborate example in Barcelona is dated to the first century CE; see Los bronces romanos en España, exh. cat., Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Palacio de Velazquez (Madrid, 1990) 338, no. 335. Compare also J. S. Milne, Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times (New York, 1907) pl. 18.3.
2. Milne 1907 (supra 1) 1-9; and D. Michaelides, “A Roman Surgeon’s Tomb from Nea Paphos,” Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 1984: 315-32, esp. 321-23.
3. Milne 1907 (supra 1) 58-61; Michaelides 1984 (supra 2) 325-26; and R. Jackson and S. La Niece, “A Set of Roman Medical Instruments from Italy,” Britannia 17 (1986): 119-67, esp. 158.
4. L. J. Bliquez, Roman Surgical Instruments and Other Minor Objects in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (Mainz, 1994) 46-47.
David Smart
