Byzantine Pottery Oil Lamp

A mold made pottery oil lamp dating to the Byzantine period in Palestine. The lamp is formed from pinkish clay and rests on a nearly flat base with an ill-defined circle at its center. The upper surfaces are decorated in relief with alternating vertical lines in groups and bunches of grapes inside circles. A small saddle shaped handle rises from the rear, decorated with a single central vertical line. The small nozzle and wick hole are decorated with a larger bunch of grapes motif. Minimal signs of lime encrustation and faint evidence of carbon black at the wick hole.