Terracotta oil-lamps from Egypt's Theban region in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, New York

Abstract

The group of 17 oil lamps now in the Islamic Art Department collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) was excavated in West Thebes in Upper Egypt by an Metropolitan Museum of Art expedition at the beginning of the 20th century. The assemblage was never fully published (apart from being included in the online MeT Collection database). The present paper documents the material in full, examining the collection and proposing in a few cases a new dating based on parallels from other sites.

Keywords

• terracotta oil-lamps
• lighting
• Western Thebes