Object Description
A late Roman mould-made terracotta oil lamp from North Africa, featuring an elongated oval body and a circular discus. A raised ridge surrounds the discuss, which continues around the large nozzle hole to form a broad canal. The shoulders are decorated with a series of geometric motifs which are now worn and therefore hard to decipher. The discus is embellished with a bejewelled monogrammatic cross. A Christian symbol known as ‘staurogram’ which combines the two Greek letters Tau (T) and Rho (P). Two filling holes flank either side of the cross. A solid spike-like handle, which is flattened on each side, sits at the top of the lamp and the base is supported with a ring foot. There are two large chips to the outer of the shoulders and chips to the handle.
This lamp is classified as Atlante X; Hayes II A.
Date: Circa 5th-6th century AD