Oil Lamp

6th 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.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Oil Lamp
Date: 6th century
Geography: Made in Jordan, Gerasa (Jerash)
Medium: Red ware
Dimensions: 1 7/8 x 2 3/16 x 3 3/4 in. (4.7 x 5.5 x 9.5 cm)
Classification: Ceramics
Credit Line: Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, The Yale Excavations at Gerasa (1929.656)
Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters