A late mid-Roman African red slip ware lamp from Sabratha and lamp production at Djilma (central Tunisia)

Abstract

AbstractA central Tunisian red slip ware lamp from Sabratha, published by D. M. Bailey in 1994, should be classified as Type Salomonson I/Atlante I. Its discus decoration is a personification of Autumn, a standing female figure with a basket of fruit as a seasonal attribute and a Cupid (Eros) sitting on it. The prototype of the moulded decoration motif appears as an appliqué on a Hayes 171 el-Aouja sigillata jug of C1 quality. The lamp, which probably dates from the third quarter of the third century or the late third century AD, was subjected to chemical analysis and comparison with recently published reference groups from central Tunisian pottery-making centres showed that it was made at the central Tunisian fine-ware potteries at Henchir el Guellal near Djilma. A/D and C1-C4 sigillata as well as Type Atlante IV A, VI B, VII A1, VII A2 and VIII C1a lamps were produced there from about the second quarter of the third century until the mid fifth century AD.