Acquisition number: 2017.07
Other images
Intact, in fair condition; some scratching and discoloration, worn ribbon handle. Mould-made lamp, slightly concave discus with relief face of Helios/Sol surrounded by radiating ray pattern. Round-tipped nozzle, filling hole to left, two concentric grooves on base enclosing rosette design. Traces of red slip.
Title: Roman Lamp - 2017.07
Acquisition number: 2017.07
Culture or period: Roman Imperial
Date: c. 2nd - 3rd century AD
Material: Clay - Terracotta
Object type: Lamps - Terracotta
Dimensions: 90mm (l) × 45mm (w) × 25mm (h)
Origin region or location: Syria
Display case or on loan: 11
Keywords: Roman, Imperial, Lamp
D.M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum, vol. 3 - Roman Provincial Lamps (London, 1988).
J. Bussière and B. Lindros Wohl, Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, 2017).
C. Lorber and P. Iossif, “The Cult of Helios in the Seleucid East”, Topoi 16, 2009, 19-42.
T. Tonhaizer, “A Backdrop to the Development of Sol Invictus Cult in Ancient Rome”, TheoRhēma 13, 2018, 67-78.
2017.07
Roman lamp
Purchased in Syria and on loan from Emeritus Professor Graeme Clarke
Length 9 cm; width 4.5 cm; height 2.5 cm
Intact, in fair condition; some scratching and discoloration, worn ribbon handle. Mould-made lamp, slightly concave discus with relief face of Helios/Sol surrounded by radiating ray pattern. Round-tipped nozzle, filling hole to left, two concentric grooves on base enclosing rosette design. Traces of red slip.
Depicting figures and scenes on ancient lamps could require the lamp maker to move the filling hole from a central position to accommodate the design (for another example see 2012.09). This lamp depicts Helios/Sol, the divine representation of the sun. As the cult of Helios was significant in Syria in this period, depictions of the sun are not uncommon (R. Rosenthal and R. Sivan, Ancient Lamps in the Schloessinger Collection (Jerusalem, 1978) 86). These representations often incorporate radiating rays surrounding the Helios/Sol figure (see, for example, J. Bussière and B. Lindros Wohl, Ancient Lamps in the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, 2017) 110 and 169, nos 153 and 249).
Representations of the moon, Luna/Selene, were also popular on eastern provincial lamps, and sometimes sun and moon deities were depicted together (D.M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps inthe British Museum, vol. 3 (London, 1988) 16-17). For the importance of solar deities in Syria, and fusion with Greek and Roman myth, see C. Lorber and P. Iossif, “The Cult of Helios in the Seleucid East”, Topoi 16, 2009, 19-42, and T. Tonhaizer, “A Backdrop to the Development of Sol Invictus Cult in Ancient Rome”, TheoRhēma 13, 2018, 67-78.
The purpose of maker’s marks, such as the rosette on the base of this lamp, is not entirely understood (see 2017.06).
On loan from Emeritus Professor Graeme Clarke