MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND SPORTS GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF ANTIQUITIES AND CULTURAL HERITAGE DIRECTORATE OF MUSEUMS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND COMMUNICATION 2 Yesterday s utensils today! A taste of Ancient Greece and Byzantium ---------------------------------------------------- Many of the utensils that people used in the past still exist nowadays. Their shape may have changed but they continue to have the exact same use today! Play and discover the older version of each vessel and identify how it evolved through time! Time to be creative! 1. Print the following pages. 2. Stick each page on a cardboard to make the cards stronger. 3. Cut out the pictures so as to make the cards for this game! You can also laminate them to avoid wear and tear! Time to play! 1. This game is for groups of people. You can play with your friends or divide yourselves into teams. 2. Before you begin, read the cards containing information on the objects and learn more about them. 3. Shuffle the cards and place all cards facing down. If you want to make the game easier, first place them face up for a little while, before turning them over, so you can observe their place. 4. Turn over the first card. Then turn another card. If it is a match then you keep them. If not turn both cards face down. Try to remember their place! 5. The game continues in turns until all cards have been matched. The player with the most matches wins. The leaflet Yesterday s utensils today for the theme A taste of Ancient Greece and Byzantium was created in 2015, within the framework of Action code no. MIS 339815 Updating and digitizing educational material to support the educational process, which is implemented by the Directorate of Museums as part of the Operational Programme Education and Lifelong Learning and jointly funded by the European Union (European Social Fund) and national resources. 1
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The teapot is a utensil with a particular shape used to make teas and infusions. It is not a modern invention, as a similarly shaped utensil was used in Minoan Crete to serve various liquids. The jug has a long history In ancient times it was called prochous. Even then it was used for serving liquids - as we still do today. The name of the ancient vase signifies that it had a spout (prochoe) from which the liquid was poured. A favourite utensil whose history goes far back in time Each morning we use it to enjoy a hot cup of milk, coffee or tea! Do we actually realise that they used similar cups to drink their hot drinks in ancient times? Nowadays glasses used for wine come in all shapes and sizes. In ancient times they used a kylix to drink wine, whose shape reminds us of modern day wine glasses. This very useful pot dates back to the Minoan times! At that time it was called chytra (cauldron) and was supported by three small legs. It was usually made out of clay. 4
Every time we want to grate some cheese for our spaghetti or tomatoes to make tomato sauce we use a grater. Did you know that this utensil exists since prehistoric times? It was shaped differently, but had the same use. Small bowls are used daily both for preparing and serving food. In ancient times a similarly shaped utensil used for drinking was the skyphos. The water urn (stamna) was until recently very important in a household. Exceptional stamnas were produced in Maroussi, an area to the north of Athens, which had suitable earth and abundant water. The precursor of the stamna was the amphora used in ancient times to store wine, oil, cereals etc. We often find clay pots of all shapes and sizes in gardens. These date back to prehistoric times, where people living in the palatial centres used the same clay pots called pithoi to store food. Every time that we want to barbecue meat, we use a grill. Grills actually have a very long history as they date back to prehistoric times. 5