THREE BYZANTINE TERRACOTTA PILGRIM’S FLASKS Circa 6th-7th Century A.D. Of the ‘St. Menas ampulla’ type, the complete one mould on both side with the saint as an orant, nimbed, flanked by two camels and two crosses; another flask showing on one side the saint on a horse and the inscription ‘blessing’ on the other in Greek characters; and a fragmentary example inscribed with the word ‘blessing’ and a cross on one side and another three-lines inscription mentioning the saint, 7cm-10.5cm high (3) Provenance: Dutch private collection, formed prior to WWII. Literature: Ampullae of this type were used to carry oil back from the shrine of Saint Menas in Egypt. Saint Menas was an Egyptian soldier which was martyred in the 3rd Century A.D. when he refused to renounce his Christian faith. According to the legend his body was returned to Egypt by his two camels which are often represented at his feet in the saint’s iconography. Similar flasks have been found in many sites across Europe and the Near East and the sanctuary of St Menas, near Alexandria, was excavated by C. M. Kaufmann in 1905. For a similar example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, cf. Rogers Fund, 1927, inv. No. 27.94.27.