Terracotta Oil Lamp - Head of Goddess c 1st century AD

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Terracotta Oil Lamp with Head of a Goddess (Selene)

Ancient Roman, Circa 1st Century AD. 

Length: 3 1/8 inches

Mould-made glazed deep red terracotta oil lamp of circular design. The central discus portrays the facing head of a Goddess. The goddess depicted is Selene (Roman = Luna), goddess of the Moon. Behind her bust can be seen a crescent moon. Intact and in excellent condition.

For lamps with similar shape see Lamps from the Athenian Agora, Princeton 1963, figure 99 and the series of lamps excavated in Cyprus and now in the British Museum (Q2358-Q2363 and Q2379 for similar motif) – dated to 40-100 AD.

In the villas, palaces and shops of the Greek, Roman and Byzantine Empires terracotta oil lamps were the primary means of artificial lighting. They were usually filled with olive oil and held a wick (linen was the most often used material). They burned for hours to light up the ancient world. The rich, in their villas, needed hundreds; the poor had only a few.

  • Inventory# PA-3142
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