Public Domain Images of Lamps Designed to Look Like ‘Ethiopian’ Heads
This lamp style can be found throughout the Mediterranean. Most examples date to the late-Hellenistic & Roman periods. Please note:
- ‘Ethiopian’-head lamps are a type of iconographic ‘pun’ referring to the fact that the ancient Greek word ‘Aithiopian’ meant ‘blazing/burnt-faced person’ (because ancient Greeks thought dark skin color was due to sun exposure). Hence, many lamps were designed to be literal ‘shining/burnt-faced people.’ Their sometimes grotesque appearance is due to the typical lamp design: the hole at the head is where the oil was poured in; the hole at the mouth is where the wick was inserted (i.e., where the lamp flame was visible).
- Though this site focuses on them to verify Greco-Roman antiquity’s diversity/exposure to diverse peoples & cultures, Ethiopians were not the only individuals whose ‘heads’ were made into lamp shapes! Oil lamps were daily necessities, often made en masse (of clay or bronze) using molds portraying people of all backgrounds, animals, mythological creatures, actors’ masks, etc. Clay lamps depicting famous gladiators, sold as cheap souvenirs at gladiator games, were also quite popular. Nothing suggests ‘Ethiopian’-head lamps were meant to demean ‘black’ individuals.
Terracotta lamp shaped as the head of an ‘Ethiopian’. Romano-Egyptian; Imperial Period, ca. 200s CE. Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Hay Collection, Gift of C. Granville Way. (#72.1537). www.mfa.org. Public Domain.
Mold-made, terracotta oil lamp shaped as an ‘Ethiopian’s’ head. Egyptian; possible dates range from the Hellenistic (Ptolemaic) Period to the Byzantine period (ca. 100s – 300s CE). Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Bequest of Mrs. Godfrey Peckitt (#RES.62.54). www.mfa.org. Public Domain.
Terracotta, mold-made oil lamp shaped as a human face (an ‘Ethiopian’). Romano-Egyptian; Imperial period, ca. 2nd c. CE – 4th c. CE. From Naukratis, Egypt. Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Egypt Exploration Fund (Accession #11.45915). www.mfa.org. Public Domain.
Terracotta, mold-made oil lamp shaped as an ‘Ethiopian’s’ head. From Egypt; made between the Hellenistic (Ptolemaic) Period and the Roman Imperial period, ca. 332 BCE – 364 CE. Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Bequest of Mrs. Godfrey Peckitt (#RES.62.61). www.mfa.org. Public Domain.
Terracotta oil lamp; mold-made. From Cyprus; Roman, early Imperial period (Augustan), early 1st c. CE. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Greek & Roman Art Department (Obj. 74.51.2211). Public Domain.
Terracotta oil lamp shaped as an ‘Ethiopian’s’ head. Either a 20th c. CE forgery or Hellenistic Greek (ca. 323 BCE -31 BCE). Image courtesy of the Getty Open Content Program (Obj. 83.AQ.438.342.2). Public Domain.
Terracotta oil lamp shaped as an ‘Ethiopian’s’ head. Roman, made in Asia Minor, ca. 150 BCE – 50 BCE. Image courtesy of the Getty Open Content Program (Obj. 83.AQ.377.486). Public Domain.
Terracotta oil lamp shaped as an ‘Ethiopian’s’ head. Roman, made in Asia minor sometime between the 1st c. BCE and the 4th c. CE. Image courtesy of the Getty Open Content Program (Obj. 83.AQ.377.492). Public Domain.
Terracotta oil lamp shaped as an ‘Ethiopian’s’ head. Greek, from Anatolia (Asia Minor); Hellenistic period, ca. 2nd c. BCE – 1st c. BCE. Image courtesy of the Getty Open Content Program (Obj.83.AQ.377.340). Public Domain.
Terracotta oil lamp shaped as an ‘Ethiopian’s’ head. Roman, made in Asia Minor sometime between the 1st c. CE and the 4th c. CE. Image courtesy of the Getty Open Content Program (Obj.83.AQ.377.488). Public Domain.
