Collection of antique lamps from Mogorjelo

Although in number they are not a representative museum collection these lamps from Mogorjelo are worthy of a short note and provide an insight into the kinds of lamps used and the period in which they were used. As a result of archaeological research 1900–1903 the Sarajevo musem received 16 lamps which, on analysis, can be seen to be of five different types. These are lamps with: angular beak and volutae, rounded beak and volutae, oval with incorporated beak, pear shaped and Firma lamps. There is only one lamp and some fragments of the first three types. There are thirteen lamps and some fragments of the last two types. These different types can be seen to represent the various building periods of Mogorjelo.We may conjecture that the first two (angular beak and volutae, rounded beak and volutae) come from the original rustic villas and agricultural estates of the first and second centuries. The oval lamps with incorporated beak were characteristic of the third and fourth centuries when the first phase of building of Mogorjelo was ending and the the second, which involved the development of a large state-owned agricultural estate and fortified camp with villa was beginning. The pear shaped lamps date from late antiquity. There is a rather larger number of these and they have much more and much richer relief decoration, most of them can be dated to the Early Christian era. Lamps of this type were usually part of the movable furnishings of Christian basilicas14 Firma lamps were produced and used for a much longer period, from the first to the fourth century and it is not possible to give a precise definition of when or by whom they were used. Because of the better quality work on our examples I would hazard the opinion that the ones in our possession (inv. nos. 1794, 1584, 3498, 1583, 1797, 2651 and unregistered fragments) can be dated to the first and second centuries that is to the first building phase of the villa rustica. A partly damaged example of one of these lamps (inv. no. 2769) because of poorer workmanship and thicker sides may be placed among the earlier items, that is to the period when Mogorjelo was becoming a fortified camp