Early Byzantine terracotta oil lamp

Syrian mold-made ceramic vessel with almond-shaped body and pointed short handle and curved sides. In the centre of the discus, a wide filling-hole and double raised rim. A band of vegetal decoration (laurel wreath) appears on the shoulders. Single base ring, raised in circle, slightly concave base. It displays a cross in relief just above the nozzle. This symbol served as an invocation, or appeal, for the divine protection. On lamps of this type the large circular discus typical of earlier Roman lamps (see Object number 127.061) that had served as a kind of “canvas” for decorative images is gone. The decoration here is focused on the shoulders of the lamp. Oil lamps were used in ancient times to light homes at night. They were fueled by fish oil, animal oil and fat but mainly by vegetable (olive) oil. A woven fibrous wick was placed in the hole at the tip of the lamp to burn the oil.

Object number: 127.064

Date: 5^th century A.D.

Parallels: New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art 28.99.16; Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts 24.128.AA, 24.128.CC, 72.398, 72.400; Baltimore, The Walters Art Museum 48.2569; London, British Museum 1868,0620.198.1, OA.300, OA.4337, compare with 1857,1218.181, 1868,0620.198.1, 1974,0424.6, 1987,0603.1; Milwaukee, Milwaukee Public Museum A15856/5253, N33029/27091, N3059/NA, N11554/32365.

References: Dean, Bashford. "A Crusaders' Fortress in Palestine: a Report of Explorations Made by the Museum, 1926." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, pp. 26, 34, fig. 49; Broneer, O., Corinth IV vol. 2: Terracotta lamps. Princeton, N.J., American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1930; Bailey, D., A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum. III. Roman Provincial Lamps, London, 1988, no. Q1869, 210, pl. 31, 147 with comparanda; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Andrea Bayer, Laura D. Corey, Morrison H. Heckscher, Katharine Baetjer, Joan R. Mertens, and Barbara Drake Boehm. Making the Met, 1870–2020, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2020. pp. 104, 249, fig. 107

Photo by Steve Morton