Water for the bride
Loutrophoria with Female Flute Players
Water played an important role in the wedding-ritual of ancient Athens. On the eve of her wedding day, the bride was given a ritual bath with water brought from the famous Enneakrounos (Nine Fountains) spring. This ceremony was so important that 8th-century Athenians created a special vessel to carry the water. The loutrophoros was a clay vase with one or two handles and was decorated with wedding scenes; common among them was the actual procession which carried the loutrophoros to the bride’s house. Just before or after the wedding ritual, the bride came to the shrine of the Nymph on the slope of the Acropolis and dedicated the loutrophoros used in the ceremony.
As seen on
Acropolis Museum: the treasures of Athena
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