Scoop Probe

The shaft of this instrument is relatively thick and smooth; it is slightly bent. The round shaft becomes square just before the bowl and has regular incisions. The opposite end is blunt. Two similar scoops set on relatively short shafts published from a French private collection are said to be from Iran or Syria (1). Greek and Roman medical instruments, many of which were described by ancient authors, have been found, sometimes in sets, throughout the ancient world (2). The instruments could have been used for more than one function, making precise classification difficult in some instances. Scoop probes could be used for stirring and applying medicines, cleaning ears or other, including cosmetic, uses (3). NOTES: 1. G. Gaboriau, Outils de la santé et de médecine d’autrefois (Le Mans, 2003) 26. For another instrument that also swells near the bowl, see ibid., 29. 2. J. S. Milne, Surgical Instruments in Greek and Roman Times (Oxford, 1907) 1-9; and D. Michaelides, “A Roman Surgeon’s Tomb from Nea Paphos,” Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, 1984: 315-32, esp. 321-23. 3. Milne 1907 (supra 2) 61-68; Michaelides 1984 (supra 2) 325-36; R. Jackson and S. La Niece, “A Set of Roman Medical Instruments from Italy,” Britannia 17 (1986): 119-67, esp. 157-58. David Smart