Unpublished Roman Terracotta Oil Lamps in Matrouh Archaeological Museum

Abstract

In daily life of Antiquity, the prevalence of terracotta oil lamps makes them a fascinating artifact of study, whether as a representation of individual preferences, religious ritual, popular trends or evidence of commercial trade patterns. The Archaeological Museum of Matrouh acquires ten interesting Graeco-Roman Oil lamps, which are unpublished before and studied in this paper for the first time. They were collected from the stores of several museums around Egypt such as; Suez National Museum, Graeco-Roman Museum of Alexandria, Ismailia Museum and from Saqqara and seemed to be produced in the usual pottery workshops of Graeco-Roman Egypt. As it is common in the field of archeology, they are neither identified nor dated precisely. Since the lamp’s typology is a sign of local pottery production, careful investigations may determine the provenance and chronology. The study will also present a carful description to each object enhanced by its register number, material and dimensions, accompanied with photographs from different angels to document lamps’ main details digitally. The museum and its visitors can contribute from the study results as well as specialists in the fields of Graeco-Roman archeology.