Title: Terracotta oil lamp
Period: Byzantine
Date: 6th - 7th century CE
Culture: Samaritan
Credit Line: Collection of the John and Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art

Item description: A mold made pottery oil lamp dating to the Byzantine period in Samaria, central region of 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.