Jars for containing liquids (Figs. 165, 166) are always of a specially long form, rather like the pupa of an insect. They were pointed below, and were either leant up against a wall or some other support or were placed in ring stands. Their rounded throats resembled the profile of an upright cup, or of a deep bowl turned upside down. During the Greek and later periods, amphorae, bearing the stamp of the Greek amphora on the handle (Fig. 167), were used. In the later Parthian period a rounded jar with a neck and no foot was common, made in two halves, and worked together. The join is quite obvious on the outside. These jars are often washed over, inside and outside, with asphalt. The long jars for storage were also used for drain pipes by cutting off the ends and placing the jars one inside another. Covers for these jars are found in numbers, in the form of small bowls either bored through to attach a handle, or with a projecting knob, an _omphalos_. [Illustration: FIG. 167.—Fragments of Greek Vases. ] [Illustration: FIG. 168.—Flasks. ] Small jars or flasks for storing liquids have very much the same form, with a handle, a short neck, and a plain flattened base (Fig. 168). Some are found still closed with a pottery stopper surrounded by a bit of rag. On the stopper there is an impressed sealing. As early as the time of Nebuchadnezzar the alabastron was in general use, both in pottery and also in white alabaster; they vary from very small dimensions to a considerable size. The amount of the contents is frequently marked on them in cuneiform characters. Several fragments of large alabaster vases bear Egyptian inscriptions. The handles of the alabastron are typical; they are semicircular pierced discs placed on a small flat surface which projects slightly, broadening from below, and looks like a rag hanging down. Flat circular vases, usually glazed, are common both in the late and early periods (Fig. 169). [Illustration: FIG. 169.—Flat circular vases. ]