A Voluted and Triple-Handled Lamp from Laodikeia

Abstract

Laodikeia was first settled about 5500 BC and remained inhabited until a severe earthquake in the early seventh century AD. Initially named Rhoas, then Diospolis (i.e. the city of Zeus), the city was named Laodikeia after Queen Laodike, wife of the Seleucid King Antiochus II, in the mid-third century BC during the Hellenistic period. After the region was fully Turkified in AD 1206, the city became known as Ladik. The Church of Laodikeia was identified and thoroughly excavated during the 2010 campaign. Eighteen sondages were conducted around the Laodikeia Church, before constructing a protective roof over the building. The subject of this article, an embossed terracotta oil lamp, was discovered in sondage number 6. This lamp characterized by its volute and three handles, is unique due to its large size. The shoulder of the lamp features a relief, influenced by Pergamon style appliques, depicting a ritual related to Dionysus which includes Satyrs and Maenads, likely representing the sacred marriage (hieros gamos) of Dionysus and Ariadne. Due to both its depiction and size, the lamp is considered to have been used to illuminate the sanctuary. Based on the other ceramics and coins recovered from sondage number 6, the embossed oil lamp can be dated between the third quarter of the 2^nd century BC and the first quarter of the 1^st century BC.

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