Lamp

Replica of a scroll lantern, it has a circular body and a projecting peak. This object is decorated with scrolls on the spout, around the disc you can see a decoration with geometric motifs and inside it is the representation of an animal, specifically it is an eagle. There is a hole in the disc for fuel. The handle is decorated by three incised lines that cross its entire oval shape and has a wick made of natural fibers. It has a mark on the base.

Skylights were used to provide artificial light both in private places such as houses or public places. Those with a handle were designed to be moved from one room to another and made moving more comfortable. These objects not only had lighting uses, they were also used in the funerary world, as trousseau, as a votive offering or as gifts to which an inscription was added, for example congratulating the new year.

They were fed mostly olive oil but sesame oil, walnut oil, fish oil and fats from various sources could also be used for large-sized Lucernes. They could have from one wick to twelve, in this case it is a simple skylight with a single wick. The wick was surely made of spun linen, any vegetable that could be suitable for spinning was used, such as papyrus, and it is also speculated that wool or cotton was used.

A problem that arises is how the wick was held. For some time now, several possibilities have been considered, one is that a wax or wooden plug was used, the other is that small tubes or rings drilled in slate, clay or lead were used. . It is believed that the hole in the disc, in addition to serving for ventilation, would also be used to move the wick, if necessary, with a pointed utensil such as a needle.

The skylights were made in two different molds, unlike the Greek environment, one for the upper part of the disk and another for the lower part of the tank, then they were joined with slip paste, which was clay mixed with water.

Normally the hot springs were open from one or two in the afternoon until sunset, so the skylights were not necessary in large quantities, but the enormous finds of these in all the rooms of the hot springs, especially the large cities, shows us that this schedule was flexible to accommodate all demand.