Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Oil Lamp with Greek and Arabic Inscriptions
Not on view
The decoration on the clay lamps, small objects designed for daily use, in the exhibition helps chart the transformation of Byzantium’s southern provinces into lands central to the Islamic world. Largely produced at the important city of Gerasa (Jerash) in Jordan, the lamps came with a variety of decorations—Christian crosses and inscriptions, Greek and Arabic inscriptions on the same lamp, and ones inscribed only in Arabic.
This lamp is inscribed in Greek on the top right shoulder "The light of Christ [is] the Resurrection" and in Arabic on the bottom "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Com[passionate]."
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This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
