Amphora Stamps from the Agora of Nea Paphos, Cyprus

Abstract

32 stamped amphora handles were excavated on the Agora site in Paphos (ancient Nea Paphos), Cyprus, within the framework of the Paphos Agora Project conducted by the Department of Classical Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University Institute of Archaeology under the direction of Professor E. Papuci-Władyka since 2011. Most of them were found in contexts dated from the Hellenistic to the Roman period. There are, however, a few stamped handles that were uncovered in definitively uncontaminated Hellenistic contexts. Most probably all of the stamped handles date to the Hellenistic period. They come from Greek amphora production centres including Rhodes, Knidos, Thasos in the Aegean and from Sinope on the Black Sea coast. Most of these stamps are commonly known, although there are several examples of a special interest.