174 Silver Wine Pourer

Museum Description: Silver Wine Pourer

Room: 52/Case: 3/Number: 124081

Scripture: Esther 1:7

This description of a banquet from the book of Esther has the ring of truth about it.  Including the detail that "each cup was different from the other" is unnecessary to include, but is the sort of comment an eyewitness might record.  We can see in this cabinet that there were indeed many different styles of cup which the wine was served in.  According to the British Museum, this particular example is perhaps the most famous in the world, often being sited and studied in academic literature.  Known as a rhyton, it could contain 1.5 litre of wine, or two standard modern-day bottles, and the wine would have come out through the hole we can see in the chest of the creature.  This would have been used to top up drinking bowls, or in the case of more wild banquets, would have poured directly into the mouth of the drinker.  Even the ancient historian Herodotus recorded "The Persians are very fond of wine".