In the Hellenistic Period, Rhodes played an important role in the Mediterranean trade. Rhodian wine was transported in stamped amphorae produced both on the island and in the Peraea. Following the Lexicon of Eponym Dies on Rhodian Amphora Stamps (4 volumes, 2015-2017), we present here the first of four volumes on Rhodian fabricants, with 1352 dies belonging to 101 fabricants whose names start with the letter alpha. The total collection will overpass 4750 dies endorsed by about 472 fabricants. The stamps belong mostly to the Benaki Collection hosted in the Graeco-Roman Museum of Alexandria, and from the excavations in the city both made by the Museum and CEAlex. For dies which do not exist in Alexandria, we present samples from other cities in Egypt as well as from Delos, Athens National Museum, Athenian Agora and some previously published stamps from excavations sites in other Eastern Mediterranean consumption centres. The stamps are presented in the alphabetical order of the fabricants. In the matrix names, numbers do not refer to any chronological dating order or stylistic difference but to the order of our registration. Under the title of each fabricant, following some brief information – the activity period of the fabricant dated by means of his connection with the eponyms relying mostly on the chronology established by Gerald Finkielstejen the total number of matrices naming the fabricant, the eventual associations with eponyms –, the different identified dies naming him/her are presented with a photograph and a rubbing, beginning with the dies accompanied by month-names in alphabetical order followed by the dies without month names. We hope that this lexicon will help the archaeologists to identify the stamps found in their excavations as well as the specialists of amphorology and ancient trade.
The matrices of Rhodian fabricants are published in a new collection, the result of an agreement between the Centre d’Études Alexandrines and the École Française d’Athènes, under the title of Mediterranean Amphorae, abbreviated to MedAmphora. The volumes are included in the International Corpus of Amphoric Stamps of the Union Académique Internationale.Dr. Gonca Cankardeş-Şenol is a professor in the Department of Archaeology, Ege University, Izmir, Türkiye and a specialist in Eastern Mediterranean amphora stamps. She has published numerous studies on amphora stamps found in sites of Anatolia, Rhodian Peraea and especially in Egypt. She has identified more than 12,000 Rhodian dies which can be consulted on the website www.amphoralex.org.
