Mould-made pottery lamp in the form of the hull of a ship, with a row of ten wick-holes on each side. Within a triangular area on top (near the stern) are relief figures of Serapis and Isis. Serapis holds a steering-oar and is crowned by Isis. Within the deck area are two relief groups: above is one of the Dioskouroi holding his horse and a spear; below is one of the Kabeiroi, a grotesque bearded dwarf-like figure holding a crucible and approaching a metal-working furnace. Between the two groups is a tabulla ansata with the inscription ΕΥΠΛΟΙΑ (she who is responsible for the safe sea voyages), an epithet of the Knidian Aphrodite. On the lamp’s bottom the inscription ΛΑΒΕΜΕΤΟΝΗΛΙΟΧΕΡΑ/ΠΙΝ exhorts the purchase and consecration of the lamp to Helios-Serapis.
Caption Lamp with plastic decoration from Knidos, with a depiction of a Kabeiros as a metalworker
Mythic people Cabeiri (Divinities)
Type Other
Artist/Creator Knidos workshop
Origin Pozzuoli, Italy
Current position British Museum, London
Index number 1862,0414.1
Dating 70-120 AD
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