Sold for A$110
Ancient Terracotta Roman Oil Lamp.. Pottery. Antiquities. Ancient Terracotta Roman Oil Lamp. About 103 mm long. Early Roman Era
Excellent. (8.5). Great condition considering this is getting on towards 2,000 years old! Some discolouration in places. A few minor flakes and marks. Great example all round. This antique oil lamp was found by the vendor personally at a dig near Petra in Jordan. It is Nabataian and dates between the 4th century BC and the 7th century AD. Petra was a biblically famous city that is situated on the silk route between Asia and France. From a Western perspective, it was lost to time for centuries and thought to no longer exist, until an archaeologist rediscovered it in the very early 19th century, somewhere around 1810-20. He found that Bedouin Arabs had discovered the abandoned city around the year 700 AD and just moved in. There are many thousands of caves in the surrounding area where these Bedu Arabs live. The caves keep at a constant 25 degrees celsius all year around. The Bedouin now 'own' and control Petra, virtually as an independent country to Jordan. Petra was made famous by T. E. Lawrence in the 1920s, who wrote about and photographed it. It was made even more famous much later when it was used to shoot the movie 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' starring Harrison Ford. Estimate: $75-100
