Scaphium
σκάφιον
Scaphium (σκάφιον), a shallow vessel without a handle, so called because it was shaped something like a boat (cf. CYMBIUM and the English sauce-boat
), used as a drinking cup (Plaut. Stich. 4.5, 11; Bacch.. sometimes earthenware, sometimes metal; e. g. of brass (Lucret. 6.1045), of silver (Athen. 4.142 d; Cic. Ver. 4.17, 37). It was used also for dipping and pouring water over the body in the bath (Athen. 11.501 e; Plaut. Pers. 1.3, 43). In Plut. Num. 9 a brazen σκάφιον (or (σκαφεῖον) is used to relight the sacred fire [PRYTANEUM p. 514], being doubtless a primitive substitute for a concave mirror or burning-glass, and retained by religious conservatism.
Scaphium also=a matella of the same shape (Juv. 6.264, &c.). For the explanation of σκάφιον κείρεσθαι, see COMA Vol. I. p. 498 a.
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.