pithos

noun

1. (historical)A large ceramic jar used by certain ancient civilizations that bordered the Mediterranean.

   “Pithos grave. The body was laid out in three pithoi, the easternmost and smallest (diam. ·40 m.) containing the skull, the middle pithos (diam. ·50 m.) containing arm bones and ribs; and the westernmost and largest (diam. ·76 m., see pl. 1) the leg bones.”

   “Xenophon, Plato's contemporary, remarks that he finds pitiable those persons who, according to tradition, pour water into a perforated pithos, since they labor in vain.”

   “Only two Hellenistic pithoi in use in the Hellenistic period have been found intact and in situ at the Agora, as far as I am aware.”