Hadra vase

The modern name of the type is derived from its main findspot, a cemetery at Hâdra near Alexandria in Egypt.

Those buried in them comprised ambassadors and mercenary leaders who died in Alexandria and received a state funeral.

The inscriptions permit the exact dating of some of the vases, although the omission of the currently ruling member of the Ptolemaic dynasty has led to the occasional controversy.

Apart from Egypt and Crete, Hâdra vases have also been found in Eretria, Attica, Rhodes, Cilicia, Cyrene, Cyprus and the Black Sea area.

It is also possible that the potters and painters were inspired by Graeco-Egyptian material that had retained ancient styles of decoration.