General Information

Gerasa “HIPPO” lamps are a locally manufactured mold-made version of the common Late Roman round lamp. “HIPPO” lamps are the local successor to the Gerasa Late Roman “JUTZ” lamps. “HIPPO” lamps represent the first large-scale products of the Gerasa Hippodrome Byzantine-era Workshop, which gives this type its name (Ostrasz and Kehrberg-Ostrasz 2020, p. 361). Gerasa “HIPPO” lamps share with both the “JUTZ” and other Late Roman round lamps a low, round body, wide filling hole surrounded by a sloping inner rim, a narrow decorated shoulder, short round wick opening, and a round lug handle.

“HIPPO” lamps differ from the earlier Gerasa JUTZ lamps in two important ways, both of which simplified production. On “HIPPO” lamps, the lug handle was part of the molding process rather than separately applied. The handle was in two halves, each part of the upper and lower molds respectively (see, e.g., Ostrasz and Kehrberg-Ostrasz 2020, Fig. 193, no. 29 = Kehrberg 2001, p. 237, fig. 3b). The shoulder decoration was also part of the mold itself, rather than being applied later as on the “JUTZ” lamps. These differences reduced the number of steps involved in the crafting of each lamp, which meant that production was faster.

Jerash/Gerasa (Jordan/Northern Highlands)