A new Nabataean inscribed bronze lamp

SUDAN & NUBIA, vol. 24, pp. 133-138 , 2021

During the 2015 season, the Italian Archaeological Mission in Sudan working at Jebel Barkal brought to light an object that has no parallels on the site: a bronze oil lamp. This object was found in a context of heterogeneous materials, including pottery, stone fragments and a large number of beads, located in the south-western corner of the palace of King Natakamani, probably in a secondary deposition. The lamp is one of only three bronze objects found so far in Natakamani’s palace and, from a technical standpoint, it represents a fine example of open core lost-wax technique. Unfortunately, the complex stratigraphy and the lack of comparisons within the site do not allow us to date the lamp with certainty, but possible stylistic parallels could be recognised with some bronze lamps coming from Meroitic tombs. By analysing the possible contacts between Meroe and the Hellenistic world we can speculate as to whether this object was imported, or rather, was a product of local craftspeople re-elaborating Graeco-Roman models.

A unique mold-made oil lamp dating from the Early Islamic period was found in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was inscribed in Greek on the upper and lower parts of its body, including the shoulder and the base. The lamp is of the Jerash type, produced between the late sixth and mid-eighth centuries CE. The lamp owner was most likely a Greek-speaking Christian-a resident of the city or a visitor from across the Jordan-on pilgrimage or on a commercial or social journey, attesting to a continuous presence of Christian visitors in the Holy City in the Early Islamic period.

This paper presents a study of an unpublished Nabataean funerary inscription from Dûmat al-Jandal in Saudi Arabia. The inscription, in the Blaihed Museum private collection in al-Jawf District in Saudi Arabia, is an important addition to the study of Nabataean funerary inscriptions, as it gives the first and only indication of the sale of a tomb, a practice that is considered abnormal for the Nabataeans. Parts of the inscription are missing or eroded. It is our hope that the publication of this article will lead to further research concerning the missing parts of the inscription.

Atiqot, 2023

The corpus of surviving Nabataean inscriptions consists of thousands of graffiti written on rock faces and bedrock from Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Egypt, while a few such inscriptions are known from the Negev. The Nabataean inscription presented here was incised in the dark-brown patina of a limestone bedrock outcrop near 'Avedat, a region dotted with many petroglyphs and inscriptions. The inscription is written in a typical Nabataean signaturetype formula, comprising the name of the author preceded by a blessing and ending with the general greeting of well-being. The isolated location of the inscription should probably be connected with the historic Nabataean trade route between Petra and Gaza.

EYLIMENE 2024, 41-50

In memoriam of Ioannis Touratsoglou Occasioned by a fragment of a Hellenistic terracotta lamp with remarkable vegetal decoration on its relief handle, recently recovered in the "Tsakiridis sector" of the Vergina excavation, some observations are made in this contribution on the decorative motifs used in minor and other arts towards the end of the Hellenistic period. It should be noted that the "Tsakiridis sector" is situated in the vicinity of the excavated Metroon in the ancient city of Aigai (Vergina) to the NW. In addition, at the site under discussion, building remains of workshops have been unearthed, as well as characteristic moveable finds, remnants of artisanal products. The long-term collaboration with Ioannis Touratsoglou was, in effect, a creative dialogue that often gave rise to useful and fascinating outcomes. Throughout his steadfast and persistent engagement with coins-those wondrous small works-the numismatist I. Touratsoglou extensively exercised his characteristic observational skills. As a result, plain objects of everyday life or small details during excavation led many times from these small "paths" to significant deductions or events of ancient history and art history. With these preconditions in mind and on the basis of our shared stance on things, together with very few of our colleagues, we established over the years a new essential starting point for the study of the Hellenistic period and its pottery: from the fragments of clay vases and figurines, the clay seals on papyri, the tiles with their incised patterns or stamps on their surface, among the innumerable excavated small finds-and not only theseit became evident that the necessary historical and cultural testimony to the Hellenistic times which we endeavoured to investigate could be retrieved through detailed observation. Then, with all these small ancient "accounts" of the finds at our disposal and with the numismatist's fascination with detail, we embarked in the 1980s on our effort to shape an emerging sample of Hellenistic Pottery-particularly for ancient Macedonia-sometimes on a theoretical level and sometimes being closer to historical reality. In the decades that followed and up to this day, assisted by many colleagues, the common research into Hellenistic pottery, in combination with numismatics, yielded many significant results collected in the published Proceedings of the International Scientific Meetings on Hellenistic Pottery 1. Our efforts in the context of the major and complex archaeological * I would like to thank the archaeologist Apostolos Thanou for the drawing and photographs of the lamp fragment, and D. Doumas for the English translation of this contribution. 1 Cf.

This inscription was found in Umm el-Jimal and dates back to the reign of Rabel II. It may be considered an important addition to the corpus of texts within his period. There are some difficulties in readings and analysis: the inscription is published here in the hope that new solutions may be found by other scholars.

“Along the Road to Bet Shemesh” (I Samuel 6:12) Archaeological Studies of the Ramat Bet Shemesh Region, 2023

2013

Heritage Science, 2016

Background: In this study, an enameled glass mosque lamp in the Brooklyn Museum collection is investigated to elucidate the origin and date of production of each of its components-the body, handles, wick-holder, and foot-to establish whether the lamp was produced during the Mamluk period (13th-14th century) or is a 19th-century European creation. Results: Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS), the body, handles, and wick-holder were found to exhibit identical composition. The lamp's foot, however, presents a dissimilar composition, one significantly richer in sodium, magnesium, and potassium. The matrix compositions, colorants, and opacifiers of the body's enamel decorations were characterized by SEM-EDS and Raman spectroscopy analyses and compared with Mamluk and 19th-century production. Conclusions: The lamp's body, handles, and wick-holder were produced using the same type of glass, one likely incorporating a plant ash flux typical of medieval Islamic glass. Materials composing the body's enamel decorations are consistent with Mamluk production. The foot's distinct composition indicates that it is a later addition to the object. Combining the analytical, stylistic, and historical evidences, this glass lamp can now be identified as a Mamluk example, one of few comprising an integral wick-holder. The presence of a wick-holder is discussed and connected to the small size of the lamp. Details informing understanding of the lamp's manufacture are also included. The implications of these new findings on the object's conservation treatment and display are discussed in the context of the upcoming reinstallation of the Arts of the Islamic World gallery at the Brooklyn Museum.

Une lampe en forme de bateau, à becs multiples, a été mise au jour il y une vingtaine d'années dans la Maison d'Orphée à Paphos. Cette découverte a été brièvement mentionnée et illustrée à l'époque de sa découverte, mais l'importance iconographique et symbolique de l'objet n'avait pas encore été mise en évidence. L'article présente un commentaire de la lampe et de son décor qui comporte plusieurs images divines, dominées par celle de Sérapis trônant (mentionné dans une inscription sur le fond). Il examine et analyse également les autres exemples de l'iconographie de ces divinités à Chypre, dans le contexte plus large des décors de lampes, spécialement celles en forme de bateau. On constate ainsi que les divinités représentées étaient toutes protectrices des voyages et de la navigation, ce qui, associé à la forme des lampes, donne une indication sur la fonction et l'usage de ces objets exceptionnels. Boat-shaped poluv lucna were unknown in Cyprus until 1986, when the fine example (Figs. 1-3) forming the subject of this paper came to light during the excavation of the area known as the House of Orpheus in Nea Paphos. 1 The lamp is decorated with deities of the Egyptian pantheon, and is one of several Egyptian or Egyptianising objects brought to light in this building complex. 2 The lamp was found in numerous fragments in a deep fill of a general 2 nd /3 rd cent. AD date, a little above the beaten earth floor of a small room near the SE limit of the excavation. The reconstructed lamp is 37.7cm long, 10.5cm wide and 13.8cm high (at the deck). The clay is of light brown colour with small grey and some larger white inclusions. The outside is covered with a thin orange/red slip that occasionally turns to brown. The