Pithos

Pithos, plural pithoi (Ancient Greek πίθος, πίθοι) was the Ancient Greek name of a large storage container used for shipping and bulk storage—primarily fluids and grains—among the civilizations that bordered the Mediterranean Sea in the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and the succeeding Iron Age. They were comparable to the drums, barrels and casks of recent times. Although the word is Greek, many of the pithoi of the ancient Mediterranean were not produced in Greek-speaking regions; for example, they are known from Crete and the Levant in non-Hellenic contexts. The name was different in different languages; for instance, the Hittites used harsi-.