Oil lamps

'Between Satricum and Antium' presents a study carried out by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology of the territories of two ancient settlements, both situated in the coastal landscape of ancient Latium on the Thyrrhenian seaboard, ca. 60 km south of Rome. Starting with the earliest traces of human presence in the Palaeolithic, the book deals in depth with the settlement dynamics in the area from the Middle Bronze age to the medieval period.
Systematic archaeological surveys, studies of existing site inventories and relevant artefact studies are all combined in this well-illustrated volume that provides a detailed account of the appearance of the first permanent dwellings during the Bronze and Iron Ages, of the rise of Archaic and Roman rural and maritime settlement and of the gradual process towards incastellamento during the Middle Ages.

The artefacts uncovered in the roman baths at Micia, numerous and well assorted, consist in pottery, metal artefacts, stone and glass artefacts. Among pottery finds, the lamps are of a particular interest from the artistic as well as from the quantitative points of view. Thus, in the collections of the National History Museum of Romania there are 35 lightning devices coming from the roman baths at Micia: 34 lamps and one candelstick. Also, it should be mentioned the fact that between those 35 analyzed pieces, only 18 are unpublished, the rest from17 being analyzed by Marieta Gheorghiță, in one study in 1975, in periodical Sargetia.

Experimental research on the production and use of late medieval/ early modern age mining lamps from the Schwaz-Brixlegg mining district (Tyrol/Austria). Even though silver mining in Schwaz-Brixlegg began later than its equivalents across Europe, at the end of the Late Middle Ages, it became the predominant form of industry of the region. With Emperor Maximilian I residing nearby in Innsbruck and his interest in belligerent confrontations, there was a strong need for a stable and fast-growing economy. Mining then quickly evolved into a refined industry, developing elaborate tools and techniques to further improve its efficiency. Whilst a lot of these have been extensively investigated, recreated and published, mining lamps, their production, fuel and wicks have received only limited attention. Under consideration of archaeological findings, as well as medieval and contemporary literature, the authors recreated various aspects of these lamps. Through the means of experimentation, they could derive some conclusions regarding their production and use. By analyzing original finds and trying to reproduce production characteristics, the authors proved that the lamps could have been mass produced on a potter's wheel. Concerning fuel, it can be safely said that the process of producing tallow (orig. germ.: Unschlitt) is not as dreadful, as widely assumed. Also, handmade wicks made from linen, cotton or jute were found to be more efficient and easier to handle than modern, mass-produced wicks. Finally, the reconstructed lamps, together with the tallow and wick, were put to test in a historical mine while wearing contemporary clothing. By reiterating the experiments, it was intended to give them scientific validity, though the authors do not claim to have answered all the questions that can be asked within this topic. Rather, they hope to incite a discussion to further push research on this type of mining equipment.

This study focuses on the analyses of a specific type of archaeological material, namely the lamps, discovered in the Roman fort at Micia. The analysis was made on a set of 111 pieces that had been discovered during the archaeological campaigns carried out between 1976 and 1987 in the Roman camp at Micia. The objects are now part of National History Museum of Romania collections. There are 110 lamps and an upper valve of a mould. As regards the chronology of the lamps found in the fort at Micia, by considering the ones assigned by us as northern Italic imports, the manufacturers' workshops are functional during the 2 nd c. AD. For the provincial and local product one has to consider the 2 nd –3 rd c. AD, based on their archaeological contexts of provenance.

The ceramic materials found in Ariano Ferrarese (Mesola, Ferrara) are making significant data on the settlement and commercial dynamics in the Po delta area for a wide time horizon that extends from the late Republican to the high middle age. The ancient settlement was built in a strategic area: near the Via Popilia which linked the towns of Rimini and Aquileia, passing through Adria and an ancient river bed connected to the inner lagoon paths, walking the edge of the flat-bottomed boats. Among the amphora finds, it is to report the discovery of a double barred handle with stamp bearing Greek letters attributable to Cos productions. Conspicuous are the finds of oil lamps, especially belonging to the families of so-called oil-lamps " a volute" and Firmalampen. The autopsy analysis of the findings allowed us to isolate an artefact that is among the types derived from Hellenistic Herzblattlampen, widespread mainly in northern Italy and in Noricum. The clay lamp with zoomorphic relief, configured like a caprid, can be attributed to the production of ceramics workshops Modena (Magreta and Cittanova) and is the second certification by the Ferrara area. The thin walled pottery is present in substantial quantity and in several variants, belonging to both the baked type in an oxidizing atmosphere, a reducing both. Only two fragments are attributable to the group called "ollette antroproposope". Among the artefacts, mostly pertaining to the Italic productions, stand out some drinking vessels imported from Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula. For reviewed materials, it was possible to establish a dating between the Augustan age and the beginning of the second century A.D. Key words: Ariano Ferrarese (FE), Ist century BC - IIIrd century AD, settlement, trade, amphorae, lamps, thin walled pottery.

Van Lake Basin contains the richest artifacts in Anatolia in terms of Turkish period tombstones. Tombstones located in centers such as Ahlat, Erciş and Gevaş exhibit different characteristics than tombstones in other regions of Anatolia. The sizes of the tombstones, the variety of sarcophagus, especially the compositions with symbolic meaning such
as architectural, herbal, geometric ornaments and oil lamps, were constantly used in the gravestone inventory in the basin with different types. Mollakâsım Village tombstones on the northern shore of Van Lake also contain examples that reflect the styles of these centers. Architectural elements such as arches and stalactite seen on the gravestones in the village, oil lamp motifs with symbolic meanings, floral ornaments in the form of curved branches and grapes, types of writing and formal and construction techniques share common features with other tombstones in the Van Lake Basin. There are two exclusion areas in Mollakâsım Village that can reach today. The first of these is in the
graveyard around the Kara Şeyh Tomb in the village 6 qualified historical graves were found in this area. The area continues to be used as a cemetery today. The second burial area is in a garden in the northeast of the village. In this area, which is known as Şeyh Ali Cemetery, a total of 8 graves, including 3 sarcophagi for 5 witnesses, were identified and examined. Some of the gravestones are probably underground in the exclusion area. The gravestones examined have been damaged over time. With their ornamentation and formal features, the tombstones examined in both burial sites are dated to a wide range of dates such as the Middle Ages and the Ottoman period. Mollakâsım Village gravestones are previously unpublished pieces of the tradition that has continued for many years in the Van Lake Basin. These tombstones are important in terms of showing that the tombstone style in the region has been carried to the small village areas and has been adopted and used by the people for centuries.

Van Gölü Havzası, Türk dönemi mezar taşları açısından Anadolu’daki en zengin eserleri bünyesinde barındırmaktadır.
Ahlat, Erciş ve Gevaş gibi merkezlerde yer alan mezar taşları Anadolu’nun diğer bölgelerindeki mezar taşlarından
farklı özellikler sergilemektedir. Şahidelerin boyutları, sanduka çeşitlilikleri bilhassa mimari, bitkisel, geometrik
süslemeler ve kandil gibi simgesel anlamı olan kompozisyonlar havzadaki mezar taşı envanterinde farklı türleriyle
sürekli kullanılmışlardır. Van Gölü’nün kuzey kıyısında bulunan Mollakâsım Köyü mezar taşları da bu merkezlerin
üsluplarını yansıtan örnekler barındırmaktadır. Köydeki mezar taşlarında görülen kemer, mukarnas gibi mimari
unsurlar, sembolik anlamları bulunan kandil motifleri, çiçek, kıvrım dal ve üzüm şeklindeki bitkisel bezemeler,
yazı türleri ile biçimsel ve yapım teknikleri Van Gölü havzasındaki diğer mezar taşları ortak özellikler taşımaktadır.
Mollakâsım Köyü’nde günümüze ulaşabilen iki hazire alanı mevcuttur. Bunlardan ilki köyün içerisinde Kara Şeyh
Türbesi’nin etrafında bulunan hazirede yer almaktadır. Hazirede 6 adet nitelikli tarihi mezar tespit edilmiştir. Alan
günümüzde de mezarlık olarak kullanılmaya devam etmektedir. İkinci hazire alanı ise köyün kuzeydoğusunda
bir bahçe içerisinde yer almaktadır. Şeyh Ali Mezarlığı ismiyle anılan bu alanda 5 şahide 3 sanduka olmak üzere
toplam 8 adet mezar tespit edilip incelenmiştir. Hazire alanında mezar taşlarının bir kısmı muhtemelen toprak altında
yer almaktadır. İncelenen mezar taşları ise geçen zamanın verdiği bir tahribata uğramıştır. Her iki hazire alanında
incelenen mezar taşları, bezeme ve biçimsel özellikleriyle Orta Çağ ve Osmanlı dönemi gibi geniş bir tarih aralığına
tarihlendirilmektedir. Mollakâsım Köyü mezar taşları Van Gölü havzasında uzun yıllar boyunca devam eden geleneğin
daha önce yayınlanmamış parçalarıdır. Bu mezar taşları bölgedeki mezar taşı üslubunun küçük köy hazirelerine kadar
taşındığını ve halk tarafından yüzyıllar boyunca benimsenerek kullanıldığı göstermesi bakımından önemlidir.

The article aims to present unpublished information about the archaeological site at Jiyeh (ancient Porphyreon). The source material consists of R. Saidah’s archival photographs and plans. R. Saidah was the head of excavations conducted in Jiyeh in 1975. As this archaeological research was never published, the presented evidence and findings provide important additional information about the history of this site. The article focuses both on reproducing R. Saidah’s excavation work in Jiyeh and presenting his discoveries, especially those linked to the early Byzantine village. The archive material enables broadening our knowledge of the buildings that had been uncovered, some of which were later partially destroyed. In addition, archival photos depict some unpublished artefacts from R. Saidah’s excavations, including well-preserved bronze objects.

Preface - Acknowledgements - Abbreviations - Notes on the illustrations - Introduction: 1. A short history about the origin of the collection, 2. The bibliography about lamps from Chersonesos, 3. About the SHM's lamps original location in Chersonesos, 4. Some words about the history of the city - Part I: Greek Lamps: 1. Open round lamps with spoon-shaped nozzle, 2. Lamps with flattened globular body, 3. Local jug-like profiled lamps, 4. Lamps of Ephesos type and derivatives, 5. Late Hellenistic lamps, 6. Esquiline type lamps - Part II: Roman Lamps: 1. Volute lamps, 2. Vogelkopflampen, 3. Firmalampen, 4. Round lamps (Loeschcke type VIII), 5. Opened lamps, 6. Sunburst lamps, 7. Biconical lamps, 8. Unclassified lamps of IIIrd and Ivth century A.D., 9. Small ovoid lamps, 10. Warzenlampen, 11. Late Roman lamps - Parts III: Byzantine Lamps: 1. Cross-handled lamps - Part IV: Mediaeval Lamps: 1. Lustron - Part V: Reproductions: 1. Imitation of a late Roman Lamp - Bibliography - Iconographical Index - Index of Inscriptions - Dictionary - Plates.

The Jewish relation to representational art is determined mostly by the Second Commandment , which states: " You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them... " (Ex 20:4) As science has observed, the commandment has not always been honoured to the letter and its understanding has been changing depending on the actual circumstances a community is facing. At times of political crises and religious pressures, resistance to figural representations grew. A period from the late 1 st to the 7 th century CE, particularly from the 3 rd to the first half of the 7 th century is an exception. Actually, when coming into contact with Greco-Roman civilisation and under the influence of cultural and religious syncretism, quite characteristic for the period of Late Antiquity, the Jewish culture became more open to representational arts. On the walls in synagogues and catacombs there are figural images, of which the most representational ones are the scenes from the Old Testament, discovered in the Dura-Europos synagogue. However, many more non-figural objects have been preserved , mostly architectural structures and religious objects resembling the Jerusa-lem Temple. A repeated image of the menorah stands out, occurring on grave stones, synagogue mosaic floors, catacomb walls, lamps and objects of applied art found not only in Palestine but all over the Jewish diaspora. The seven-branched lampstand is designed according to the God's instructions for the service in the Tabernacle or King Solomon's Temple. When the menorah was taken to Rome after the destruction of the Second Temple, it became an expression of an aspiration for a renewal of the Jerusalem Temple and a symbol of Jewish identity. The paper examines and analyzes a motif that evolved from a Divine prototype to an image of an object which stands in the Jerusalem temple, to representation that becomes not only a substitute for the Temple, but also a common symbol of a nation in the diaspora. We will try to connect the evolution of the motif with the migration of the Jews, after the fall of the Second Temple and to show that the occurrence of the motif in different parts of the Mediterranean and/or the Balkans confirms the presence of a Jewish community.