“Depas Amphikipellon”

From the linguistic/philological viewpoint, the name of the vase is taken from the word δέπας [depas] (Proto-Indoeuropean root dheup-, deep, hollow, → Mycenaean di-pa, vase,) and the composite word αμφικύπελλο (preposition αμφί-, from both sides, on either side, and noun κύπελλο, cup, drinking vase). The term δέπας (cup) is encountered for the first time in Homer (8th century BC) and refers to the luxurious vase, for domestic use or for libations, of the aristocratic elite of Mycenaean times. Athenaeus (2nd-3rd century AD), in his work Deipnosophists, relates that depas is the cup and amphikypellon is interpreted, inter alia, as biconvex.  

Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890) gave this name to cups with long and narrow cylindrical body and two vertical curved or heart-shaped handles, which were first identified in Troy ΙΙc (≈2400-2200 BC), considering erroneously that he was exploring the layers of later Troy VII (≈1200 BC), about which Homer sang. Regardless of the interpretative schemes proposed, these cups signify one of the diagnostic cultural innovations that was diffused towards the end of the Early Bronze Age (EBA ΙΙΙ, 2200-2050 BC) throughout the Aegean region, the Balkans, Central and Southeast Anatolia, as well as Northern Syria, in several variations, constituting a diagnostic type of the period and witness of contacts. 

At Poliochni the type appears for the first time during the Yellow building phase (EBA ΙΙΙ, 2200-2000 BC), a little later than Troy ΙΙc. 

The depas amphikypella from Poliochni are classed in two categories: to the first belong the more elegant vases (fine-walled and almost always smoothed and coated with slip, frequently with bright red slip, sometimes of grey clay), while to the second belong more durable and heavier vases, more suitable for everyday use.