This small drinking vessel, carved in a goblet-shape known as a cantharus, was created from a single block of multi-hued stone. The only known source of this special mineral called fluorspar was Parthia, with whom Rome warred intermittently for almost three hundred years, starting in the first century BCE. The constant military conflict did not seem to inhibit trade as much as we might imagine, however. Romans particularly prized wine cups and jugs made from fluorspar, which is said to have imparted a particularly appealing flavor to the wine. This vessel is called the Crawford Cup after the earl of Crawford, in whose name the cup was donated to the British Museum in 1970. It is said to have been found in a Roman tomb located somewhere near the border of Syria and Turkey, along with a number of other treasures.¹

(1) See the British Museum web page dedicated to this object.