Pottery lamp in the form of a ship
Roman, about AD 70-120
Made in Cnidus, modern Turkey; found in the sea off Pozzuoli,
southern Italy
A powerful lamp
This ornate, mould-made lamp could accommodate up to twenty
wicks, and would have generated a considerable amount of light. The
prow (front) has a large single nozzle with two volutes. Above this
is the deck area with a panel of relief decoration showing a dwarf
at an iron-smelting furnace, and one of the Dioscuri (Castor and
Pollux), with his horse. Between these scenes is a tabula
ansata (a framed and inscribed plaque), bearing the Greek word
(euploia) meaning 'a good voyage', but also a name used
for Cnidian Aphrodite. In a triangular panel in the stern of the
ship are the figures of Serapis, holding a steering-oar, being
crowned by Isis. On the base is a Greek inscription which
translates: 'Take me, the Helioserapis'. The orange-brown clay of
the ship was once covered with an orange slip, now largely worn
away, and there are several traces of marine encrustation from its
time under the sea.
'Helioserapis', used here as the name of the ship, was an
amalgamation of the names of the Greek god Helios, the sun, often
linked with Apollo, and Serapis the saviour god of Hellenistic
Egypt, whose fame was carried throughout the Mediterranean by Rome.
The name of the ship and the heavily religious imagery of most of
the decoration suggest that the lamp may have been used in a place
of cult, such as a temple or shrine.
D. Bailey, A catalogue of the lamps in th, vol. 3 (London, 1988)