Oil Lamp

8th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
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 Arabic "Blessings from God for ‘Amir son of Kharaj."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Oil Lamp
  • Date: 8th century
  • Geography: Made in Jordan, Gerasa (Jerash)
  • Medium: Buff-red ware
  • Dimensions: 3 7/16 x 1 x 2 3/8 in. (8.8 x 2.6 x 6 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics
  • Credit Line: Jerash Archaeological Museum, Jordan (683)
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters
Oil Lamp - The Metropolitan Museum of Art