| This is a late Roman lamp, about 1,800 years old. It carried the identifying
mark of this type of lamp: a bow-shaped nozzle (a departure from the Herodian
nozzle). It also represents a return to the old Roman lamp: it is ornamented!
Perhaps this is an indication of a more enlightened observant Jewish population
which replaced the austerity of the earlier unornamented lamp with one
of simple geometric designs. It is made with red burnish and has a defined
ridge and ornamented shoulders bearing wavy lines which end at the mouth
with a simple volute. There is also some design at the base which slopes
off to a flat platform. This lamp is cracked and is encrusted. |
