Preliminary Report on the 2000 Swiss-Liechtenstein excavations at ez Zantur
by Bernhard Kolb and Daniel Keller
VIII. Ez Zantur IV: Another type of glass lamp from ez Zantur
In addition to the glass lamps presented in last year’s preliminary report Kolb – Keller 2000: 366–370. another type of glass lamp will be introduced here. So far, two specimens of the new type have been found on EZ IV. One of them could be put together from several small fragments and shows the complete shape (no. 1 Fig. 15): The vessel is made of good quality thick-walled, almost colorless glass with a very pale green tint. The rim is cracked off and everted. The slightly curved side tapers to a narrow base and ends in an applied dark blue knob. About 5 cm below the rim, there is a continuous horizontal band of two large semitranslucent dark blue blobs alternating with two groups of six small dark blue blobs arranged in a triangular pattern. The fragments of this lamp (no. 1) were found during the seasons 1997 and 1998 in the débris of the collapsed walls in staircase 9 about 75 to 65 cm above the floor level in FK 3047 (PQ 87/AO) and FK 3154 (PQ 88/AO) respectively.
Fig. 15: EZ IV. Narrow-based, conical glass lamp decorated with blue blobs: no. 1 FK 3047 and FK 3154 (drawing: I. Haussener)
Two matching rim and body sherds each are from another vessel of the same shape made of very pale green glass (no. 2) with the same decoration of small dark blue blobs arranged in a triangular pattern. They were found during the season 2000 in the débris at the northern end of corridor 25 in FK 3374 (PQ 89/AM). They were discovered in the lower layer of the collapsed walls between 60 and 7 cm above the pavement of the corridor just above the collapsed fragments of wall painting which were laying directly on the floor.
As the fragments of the two glass vessels were found relatively high above the floor level, they seem to have fallen down from a certain height together with the collapsed walls and the ceiling. Therefore they must have been positioned quite high above the floor at the time the building was destroyed. This also indicates that they were used as glass lamps and suspended from the ceiling. That they were found in a corridor favours this interpretation as well, since this was a narrow and dark passage which needed lighting and where permanently installed lamps would have made sense. The almost completely preserved glass lamp no. 1 was installed most probably at the southern end of corridor 25, although it was found in staircase 9: Because of the low preservation of the corner of the walls AA and AB, which is between corridor 25 and staircase 9, it is quite possible that the lamp had been suspended from the ceiling of corridor 25 and from there had fallen down into staircase 9 together with the walls. Hanging up two identical glass lamps at each end of corridor 25 would correspond perfectly with the findings in corridor 11, where glass lamps had been found at either end as well Kolb – Keller 2000: 366–368. .
Formal aspects of these cup-shaped vessels would also support their use as lamps
The everted rim can easily be enclosed by a collar, on which a lamp-hanger could be attached The questions of how exactly these glass lamps were installed and which material was used for the collar and the lamp-hanger remain still unanswered (Kolb – Keller 2000: 368). As there were no remains of any kind of metall lamp-hangers, the use of lamp-hangers and collars made of organic material would be a likely possibility. , and the tapering base favours a suspension as well. Furthermore, the decoration of blue blobs would have been more effective if the vessel had been used as a lamp and illuminated from inside, than if used as a drinking cup, where the blobs would have been nearly invisible, especially if the vessel had been filled with a dark liquid such as wine. But the findspots of these vessels in corridor 25 provide the clearest indication for their use as permanently installed glass lamps.
An identical glass lamp with the same decoration pattern of blue blobs and the applied blue knob on the base is in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and is said to come from Lebanon Fremersdorf 1962: 55 Pl. 109. . A similar vessel with the same shape and the blue knob on the base, but with another pattern of the decorative blue blobs is in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto Hayes 1975: 121 no. 476. . As both pieces come from the art market, they yield no evidence for the date and the origin of this vessel type. But there are four rim and two body sherds of such vessels with everted rim, slightly curved wall and blue blobs, which were found in the excavations of a late Roman glass workshop at Jalame (Israel) Davidson Weinberg 1988: 91 No. 411–412 Figs. 4–16, 411–412. . Three of those sherds were found in the dump of the workshop, which indicates that they had been produced there. The dating of the glass factory at Jalame in the third quarter of the 4th century AD Davidson Weinberg 1988: 16–19; Kuhnen 1994: 47 no. 28. provides the first evidence for dating this type in the mid 4th century AD. The fragments from EZ IV support this dating, as they belonged to the inventory of the house which was obviously destroyed in the earthquake of AD 363 Kolb – Keller 2000: 355 . Therefore these glass lamps can be said to be typical for the mid 4th century AD, and according to the finds from Jalame they were produced in one of the numerous glass workshops on the slopes of the Karmel mountains in Western Galilee.
The glass lamps with blue blobs differ considerably from those with three small handles presented in last year’s preliminary report Kolb – Keller 2000: 366–370. : One of the striking differences is the quality of the glass material used for the two types of glass lamps. The lamps with small handles are made of greenish or bluish quite thin-walled glass, whereas the lamps with blue blobs are made of good quality thick-walled, almost colorless glass with a very pale green tint. Further it is obvious that the lamps with small handles are more numerous. Fragments of 14 other lamps with three handles were found in addition to the five pieces already known in 1999 Kolb – Keller 2000: 369 no. 1–5. . Thus, the total is 19 ordinary lamps compared to the two glass lamps with blue blobs. The distribution indicates that the lamps with handles were common in Petra during the mid 4th century AD. They can be seen as cheap, locally produced glass lamps, whereas the thick-walled glass lamps with blue blobs were more expensive imported products This confirms the earlier suggestions that two different qualities of glass can be distinguished among the glass finds from the 4th century AD in Petra and that the difference between the high quality nearly colorless glass and the cheap greenish or bluish glass can be explained by a separation into imports of luxury glass and local production of cheaper glass (Kolb – Keller – Gerber 1998: 268 n. 6 with further references). .
It is not surprising that the more expensive lamps with blue blobs were installed in corridor 25, which in the late Roman period was still the main access to courtyard 19. On the other hand the cheap lamps with handles were used in the smaller corridor 11 and in room 16, as already mentioned in last year’s preliminary report Kolb – Keller 2000: 366–367. as well as – according to new finds – in the adjoining rooms 12 and 35 (FK 3240 and FK 3265). The difference in importance between the main corridor 25 and the adjoining corridor 11 is not only visible in the architectural features, but also in the more luxurious interior decoration of corridor 25 with the two identical expensive imported glass lamps with blue blobs compared to the cheap locally made glass lamps with handles in found in corridor 11.
Catalogue
EZ IV 87/AO Abs. 2 FK 3047 and EZ IV 88/AO Abs. 4 FK 3154 (room 9)
whole profile of a glass lamp with cracked off everted rim, slightly curved body tapering to a narrow base with a dark blue knob, horizontal band of two large dark blue blobs alternating with two groups of six small dark blue blobs arranged in a triangular pattern
almost colorless glass with a very pale green tint
diameter = 11 cm
height = 11.1 cm
wall thickness = 0.2–0.3 cm
Fig. 15
EZ IV 89/AM Abs. 3 FK 3374 (room 25)
Two rim and two body sherds of a glass lamp with cracked off everted rim, slightly curved body and a group of six small dark blue blobs arranged in a triangular pattern
very pale green glass
diameter = ca. 11 cm
height = 4.8 cm
wall thickness = 0.15–0.3 cm
Daniel Keller Schweizerisch-Liechtensteinische Ausgrabungen in Petra der Universität Basel Schönbeinstrasse 20 4056 Basel
