Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora (jar)

Obverse, Athena

Reverse, chariot race

From the second quarter of the sixth century B.C. on, victors in the contests for the Panathenaic festival in Athens were awarded a standardized vase containing one metretes (about forty-two quarts) of olive oil from sacred olive groves in Attica. The official decoration on the front was a picture of a statue of Athena, fully armed, standing between two columns. The event for which the vase was awarded was illustrated on the back. This vase was the prize of a victor in the prestigious chariot race.

Credit: Fletcher Fund, 1956