Оil lamps of different shapes

The Belgrade City Museum collection holds over 600 oil lamps (lucernae) from the Roman period, discovered by chance or during archaeological research. Unlike the archaeological layers of the pre-Roman Singidunum, where the lamps are almost unknown, the Roman ones were always present in households and public spaces, but also during funeral rituals, which unequivocally indicate the acceptance of the Roman way of life in the province of Upper Moesia from mid-1st century. Almost all types of oil lamps known in the area of the Roman Empire were in use in Singidunum, but some specimens represent a rarity. Ceramic, bronze and glass lamps were made in moulds. A small hole on the upper surface of the disc was used to add oil, while the wick came out of a larger hole on the nose of the oil lamp. Lamps sometimes had several wick holes to produce more light.