In Antiquity, a lamp was originally called a ‘lychnus’, from the Greek ‘λυχνος’. Howland type 49 A, better known as “Ephesus lamps” or “so-called Ephesus lamps”, appeared in Asia Minor early in the second century B.C. Although lamps of this type, as well as several molds, have been found in great numbers in Ephesus, this city has nevertheless long been denied the role of a major production center of the type. Up to now no vestiges of a workshop or kiln have been discovered at this site or its surroundings. However, recent studies and chemical analyses of clays have definitively established a production of the type in Ephesus itself. “Ephesus lamps” have also been attested, although so far in lesser numbers, at various other Asia Minor sites: Tarsus, Miletus, Pergamon, Assos, Troy, Priene, Samaria/Sebaste, Labraunda, and Sardis. No site has yielded as many specimens as Delos (about twelve hundred), and yet a local Delian production has been discarded. Further clay analyses will perhaps determine if there were production centers besides Ephesus.
The decoration of “Ephesus lamps” is extremely varied, expressing the Hellenistic taste for vegetal ornaments (esp. floral) rather than representations of humans. The latter are present only as masks or as gods shown with their attributes.
To discover more about the ancient origins of oil lamps, visit our relevant post: Oil Lamps in Antiquity.
