The Late Antique Oil Lamps Unearthed at Nysa ad Maeandrum

Abstract

During the excavations carried out at Nysa ad Maeandrum in 2015, 59 intact lamps and 2503 fragments of Late Antique oil lamps were unearthed in the Eastern Spaces (DM-1–DM-4), located to the southeast of the intersection of the Colonnaded Street (Cadde 1) and Street 4B. This study evaluates the typological characteristics and the spatial context of these lamps. Although the lamps are typologically related to forms known from the late 4^th century onwards, the Nysa specimens are predominantly dated to the late 6^th - early 7^th century CE based on contextual data. The concentration of the majority of the finds within a spesific area of space DM-3, when considered alongside the in situ lamp suspension rings on the Colonnaded Street, suggests that this space may have served as a public warehouse for street lighting. In this study, this situation is interpreted within the framework of security challenges experienced in Western Anatolia during the early 7^th century CE and the destructive earthquakes that occurred immediately thereafter. Consequently, the article presents concrete archaeological data regarding street lighting and the functional transformation of public spaces during a crisis period, based on the Late Antique lamps recovered from the Nysa Colonnaded Street excavations.