Undergraduate Study

Classics Teaching Collection

Classics at the University of Edinburgh possesses a fine study collection of ancient objects—mostly terracotta vases—from Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, and the Roman world, spanning from the prehistoric period to the Roman era. Although it has not been possible to trace the donor or original provenance of our collection, the complete state of the vases suggests that they come from a funerary context. Especially interesting are the Cypriot examples of White Slip Ware, Proto-White Painted and Cypriot-Geometric vases. They offer a good sample of different fabrics and shapes from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The same can be claimed for the Corinthian aryballoi, which together with the Attic black-figure lekythoi, illustrate the variety of techniques employed to decorate funerary offerings at Athens and Corinth.

Much of the collection is on public display on the first floor of Teviot Place, Doorway 4.

Our substantial collection of plaster casts of ancient works of sculpture is also displayed throughout the same building, particularly in the Student Resource Room. There, they can see and examine three-dimensional examples of three-dimensional statues, reliefs, and portraits dated from the Archaic and Classical periods to the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In addition, the casts are used in courses pertaining to the study and dissemination of classical antiquity in the post-antique period.