Advanced Search 
Lamp with cross and ankh-signs
Byzantine, Egypt
Early Byzantine Period
5th–6th century A.D.
Medium/Technique
Terracotta
Dimensions
Height: 5.7 cm (2 1/4 in.); width: 8.8 cm (3 7/16 in.); depth: 11.1 cm (4 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Hay Collection—Gift of C. Granville Way
Accession Number72.1524
CollectionsEurope, Ancient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsTools and equipment – Lighting devices
DescriptionA mold-made oil lamp with a large, flat discus. The oil lamp is ovoid in shape and appears to be without handles. It has a single fill hole in its center and one wick hole in the nozzle. The fill hole is placed at the center of a cross made up of rows of circles. The space between the bars of the cross are occupied by ankh-signs (sign of life in Egypt) which had a resemblance to the Chi-Rho monogram so used by Egyptian Christians.
ProvenanceBy 1836: Robert Hay Collection, Linplum, Scotland; 1863: to his son, Robert James Alexander Hay; 1868-1872: Way Collection, Boston (purchased by Samuel A. Way through London dealers Rollin and Feuardent, 27 Haymarket); 1872: given to the MFA by Samuel's son, C. Granville Way.