DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Zych, Iwona: Marina el-Alamein: some ancient terrakotta lamps from Marina
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41371#0085
MARINA EL-ALAMEIN
EGYPT
amphorae coming up in pottery contexts
from the site, it is clear that trade with
Crete ranked highly on the list of the
town's commercial relations. The lamps
themselves were rather not the object of
trade; their occurrence in funerary contexts
would suggest that they were treated more
as prized family heirlooms and may thus be
construed as an indication of agents of
Cretan merchants possibly residing in
Marina. A tentative connection with
Benghazi should also be considered.
EGYPTIAN AND IMPORTED LAMPS OF THE 2ND
AND 3RD CENTURIES
The next group described here consists of
five handle attachments in the form of
terracotta figurines, of which Bailey said
that it is “surprising how seldom they are
found attached to a datable lamp”.17) We
are fortunate to have such a set (E 253).
Bailey discusses them as his Type V, which
he believes was introduced in Egypt and
spread from there to North Syria, Cnidus
and Italy. Our lamp {Fig. 5) is round-
bodied (Loeschcke Type VIII), 10.3 cm
wide and 9-5 cm high with the handle; its
length reached 12.5 cm. The fabric is fine
but porous light brown clay covered with
a glossy yellow to reddish-yellow slip. The
nozzle is heart-shaped, partly incorporated
into the body, with tendrils growing out of
it and onto the shoulder. Side lugs are
formed of scrolling volutes marked with
a plastic floral ornament on the shoulder.18)
The discus itself, big and shallow, has
a relief impression of a face in the center of
Fig. 4- Lamp handles in the form ofSerapis busts and an enthroned figure of a nursing Isis
(Photo I. Zych)
17) Bailey ii, op. cit., 396ff.
18) The lamp itself falls into a second-century type that was produced in Cnidus (e.g. British Museum lamp Q 2748,
Antonine period; for an Italian variant, cf. Bailey, ii, op. cit., 343 and pi. 74). Again, the identification of manufacturing
center can be based on little more than intuition.
83
EGYPT
amphorae coming up in pottery contexts
from the site, it is clear that trade with
Crete ranked highly on the list of the
town's commercial relations. The lamps
themselves were rather not the object of
trade; their occurrence in funerary contexts
would suggest that they were treated more
as prized family heirlooms and may thus be
construed as an indication of agents of
Cretan merchants possibly residing in
Marina. A tentative connection with
Benghazi should also be considered.
EGYPTIAN AND IMPORTED LAMPS OF THE 2ND
AND 3RD CENTURIES
The next group described here consists of
five handle attachments in the form of
terracotta figurines, of which Bailey said
that it is “surprising how seldom they are
found attached to a datable lamp”.17) We
are fortunate to have such a set (E 253).
Bailey discusses them as his Type V, which
he believes was introduced in Egypt and
spread from there to North Syria, Cnidus
and Italy. Our lamp {Fig. 5) is round-
bodied (Loeschcke Type VIII), 10.3 cm
wide and 9-5 cm high with the handle; its
length reached 12.5 cm. The fabric is fine
but porous light brown clay covered with
a glossy yellow to reddish-yellow slip. The
nozzle is heart-shaped, partly incorporated
into the body, with tendrils growing out of
it and onto the shoulder. Side lugs are
formed of scrolling volutes marked with
a plastic floral ornament on the shoulder.18)
The discus itself, big and shallow, has
a relief impression of a face in the center of
Fig. 4- Lamp handles in the form ofSerapis busts and an enthroned figure of a nursing Isis
(Photo I. Zych)
17) Bailey ii, op. cit., 396ff.
18) The lamp itself falls into a second-century type that was produced in Cnidus (e.g. British Museum lamp Q 2748,
Antonine period; for an Italian variant, cf. Bailey, ii, op. cit., 343 and pi. 74). Again, the identification of manufacturing
center can be based on little more than intuition.
83