Object type
oil lamp
Culture/period
Roman world
Materials
pottery
Technique
moulding
Mint
Production date
1 / 100
Museum
Museu de Badalona
Current location
Exposició permanent
Archaeological site
Ciutat romana de Baetulo.
Township
Badalona (Europa, Espanya, Catalunya, Barcelona, Barcelonès)
Dimensions
2,8 x 8,9 cm
Description
Read more
Discus lamp, Dressel 20 shape, with two lugs to hang it from, but also with a handle. Part of it retains the green glazed varnish, which in some parts becomes iridescent white. It was found in the excavations in the Clos de la Torre area in the 1950s.
Three eastern divinities are represented: the goddess Isis in the centre, facing the front, holding the sistrum with one hand and a Canopic vessel containing the water of the Nile with the other. She wears a xiton (Greek tunic) and himation (shawl). Although in this case it is not so, we often find the Isis knot tied under the chest, which had magical powers. Anubis has a human body and the head of a jackal, and he looks at Isis. In one hand he carries a branch of laurel and, although it is not visible, in the other he would carry the ankh, the teardrop-shaped cross or cross of life. Harpocrates is represented naked and with his index finger in front of his mouth making the gesture of silence and in the other hand he carries a cornucopia, a symbol of abundance.
The lamp oil feed hole is between Isis and Harpocrates.
Isis is the magician goddess. Her powers are so great that she can give her husband Osiris a second life. She is also a caring and loving mother: she raises her son away from his terrible Uncle Set and saves him from the dangers that threaten her. For all these reasons, she also becomes the protective goddess of women and children. Her cult spread throughout the Mediterranean and withstood the rise of Christianity until the 6th century AD, when it was banned by Justinian in 535.
Harpocrates is the name that the Greeks gave to the son of Isis (Horus). He is the only son of Isis and Osiris. He spends his entire childhood in the Nile marshes, where his mother hides him. When he grows up he confronts his uncle to protect the throne of Egypt. He is represented as a naked child with the finger of his right hand in front of his mouth, making the sign of silence. The Greeks adopted him as the god of silence, but he also symbolizes the dawn or winter sun and constant renewal.
Anubis is the illegitimate son of Osiris and Nephthys, the sister of Isis. He is represented with the head of a jackal, and it is he who makes the first mummy of all: that of Osiris. Thanks to this ritual, his father's body was able to be reborn. Since then, Anubis is the god of embalming. He also has an important role in the afterlife, as he is in charge of leading deceased humans to Osiris.
From the first century AD, Eastern religions gained strength in the Western Roman Empire, especially among the lower classes of Roman society. Eastern ceremonies and rituals were more mysterious and closer to the people, and contrasted strongly with the coldness and distance of Roman gods and rituals. That is probably why several lamps with this theme have been found in Baetulo.
© Museu de Badalona
Omeka ID
1898