Turkish museum exhibits 2,600-year-old perfume bottles

By Efsun Erbalaban Yilmaz

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) - A collection of 2,600-year-old perfume bottles is on display in Izmir, on the Aegean coast of Turkey, through February.

The Izmir Archaeology Museum showcases priceless artifacts being preserved in its warehouse every month as part of a project called You Will See What You Can't See.

With a 2,800-year-old princess belt from the Urartian age exhibited in January, February hosts storage vessels known as Attic red-figure squat lekythos.

The potteries which were produced by the red-figure technique in the ancient Greece and used as oil and perfume containers, were found to be processed in the Potters Bazaar in Athens 2,600 years ago.

Decorated with exquisite elements such as Athenian women, swans and mythological creatures by masters, the historical artifacts were unearthed by the Izmir Archeology Museum in recent years during excavations in the Seferihisar district and in the ancient city of Neonteikhos in the Menemen district.

It was found that the pots were brought to Izmir and its surroundings in the 5th or 6th century B.C., used by women belonging to the upper class as oil or perfume bottles, and buried with them after death.

Hunkar Keser, the curator of the Izmir Archeology Museum, told Anadolu Agency that there are 180,000 pieces in the museum and they can only display 5% of them, preserving many invaluable pieces in the warehouse.​​​​​​​

"Black-figure technique over the red color of the ceramic is applied on these pots. Painters produced works on them which are very close to human skin color and anatomy. Both mythological subjects and daily subjects were covered in their works," Keser said.

There are very few red-figure works left today, the official stated.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan