Name of Object:

Lamp and base

Location:

Amman, Jordan

Holding Museum:

Jordan Archaeological Museum

About Jordan Archaeological Museum, Amman

Date of Object:

Hegira 1st–2nd century / AD 7th–8th century

Museum Inventory Number:

J. 12244

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Moulded ceramic.

Dimensions:

Height: 4.2 cm, length 11 cm

Period / Dynasty:

Umayyad

Provenance:

Jarash, Jordan.

Description:

An oval-shaped pottery lamp made using two moulds; one for the upper half and another for the lower, the two halves being joined together by a ridge.

The lamp is decorated with multiple motifs such as small circles within half volutes, wavy and straight lines on both sides of the filling hole, as well as birds and palm branches. The sides of the lower part are decorated with alternate circles and palm branches. The handle is tall and curved, terminating in a crude animal head. The base is a pointed oval, decorated with a chalice within which is a sequence of fish. Similar lamps bear Greek and Arabic inscriptions and are sometimes decorated with crosses.

View Short Description

A pottery lamp from Jarash made using two moulds, one for the top and the other for the base, which is decorated with a chalice within which is a sequence of fish. Similar lamps bear Greek and Arabic inscriptions and are at times decorated with crosses.

How date and origin were established:

The lamp was dated according to stratigraphic context and associated Umayyad pottery vessels.

How Object was obtained:

The lamp was recovered in 1968 during the course of an excavation carried out at Jarash by the Jordan Department of Antiquities.

How provenance was established:

The lamp was found at Jerash during an archaeological excavation.

Selected bibliography:

دعنا.سليمان، "حفرية الفسيفساء – الاستراحة- جرش، 1968"، حولية دائرة الآثار الأردنية، المجلد الرابع عشر، 1969، ص58-60، اللوح 22.

Bisheh, G., The Second Season of Excavations at Hallabat, 1980, Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Vol. XXVI, 1982, pp.134–5, plate 37, 1-3.

La voie royale: 9000 ans d'art au royaume de Jordanie, exhibition catalogue, Paris, 1986, p.272.

Citation of this web page:

Aida Naghawy "Lamp and base" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;jo;Mus01;37;en

Prepared by: Aida NaghawyAida Naghawy

Aida Naghawy is an archaeologist and the Director of Jordan Archaeological Museum. She studied archaeology at the University of Jordan where she gained her MA. She was affiliated to the Jordanian Department of Antiquities from 1974 as a curator of Jordan Archaeological Museum. In 1981 she became inspector of Jerash antiquities and co-ordinator of the Jerash International Rehabilitation project. She was also head of the archaeological awareness section at the Department of Antiquities. Aida is the author of numerous publications on Islamic coins. She has carried out excavation work in Jerash and is the founder of Jerash Archaeological Museum and the Islamic Museum of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs.

Copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: JO 78

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Islamic Dynasties / Period

Umayyads


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