Large Dish Depicting Fish The dish displayed here was used to
serve fish. Fish were important symbols to Romans, Christians,
and Jews in the ancient world, and the act of eating fish could
therefore take on a degree of symbolic significance. Jews ate
fish at the beginning of the Sabbath in this period in
anticipation of the meal to be served at the start of the
Messianic Age, when the faithful would dine on the flesh of the
sea monster Leviathan. And within the Christian tradition, in
the earliest depictions of the Last Supper the main course was
fish. - Culture: Coptic - Medium: Pottery with paint - Dates:
6th century C.E. - Period: Coptic Period - Dimensions: 4 3/4 x
18 11/16 in. (12 x 47.5 cm) (show scale) - Collections:Egyptian,
Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art - Museum Location: This item
is not on view - Accession Number: 42.408 - Credit Line: By
exchange - Rights Statement: Creative Commons-BY - Caption:
Coptic. Large Dish Depicting Fish, 6th century C.E. Pottery with
paint, 4 3/4 x 18 11/16 in. (12