This little Roman oil-light of mine...

It is the oldest human-made artifact I have ever held in my hands (or a very close second). I gasped when our client nonchalantly pulled it out of a small box of trinkets--a clay oil lamp. Such a simple construction: the round bowl, the filling hole, a pinched lug handle, a nozzle. I'm not sure if I recognized it from the old Sunday School flannel graphs or from photos in history textbooks from which I taught over the years. Ancient, utilitarian, commonplace. It is intact and would burn oil if I weren't afraid of it.

This was a gift to our client several years ago. The gifter sent a note indicating it was from the 1st to 3rd century "Holy Land." I am ever skeptical of such claims, so I tried to find similar forms. My suspicions were that it wasn't extremely rare or valuable, especially since there were no decorations. I was however very excited to handle it.

First gander went to a quick ebay search--I was right that they are not extremely valuable. From the little iPhone screen, I did find similar ones that have sold and some that had not sold. Ebay is a good place to start, but I couldn't stop there, especially with a breakable item and one that may be difficult to authenticate over the internet.

I asked around about antiquities dealers in the area and got some leads, but since it's not valuable enough for a paid appraisal I tried to figure out something else. When I reached out to an archaeology contact I'd seen present at a research conference a few weeks ago, she was able to tell me about the surface condition. The rough surface of the clay has a calcium carbonate build-up. Apparently, this means it was buried and leached this chalky material from the surrounding soil.

There is quite a bit of information out there about some of the moulded and signed lamps from the early Roman Empire--but this one has no markings and I suspect it is from a crude mould, if any and maybe a potter's wheel. Because the surface is changed, I can't really tell. The simple form is consistant with other examples of early Roman Judean lamps. The rest of its history will be up to the new owner to search for!

On to the other tiny antiquities--two coins, a fibula and a whorl wheel. Can I just stop and say how amazed I am that any old Joe can own things like this? Lots of small artifacts are out there for well under $100 from reputable dealers. In fact, I perused illuminated manuscript pages and sifted though a tray of ancient coins at Charles Edwin Puckett's booth at the Antiques and Garden Show this past weekend.

I used Google image search with the information I had and identified both coins in a matter of minutes (well, double-digit minutes).

First, a bronze Constans coin (right) from AD 348-50; his dad was Constantine who left the precarious Roman Empire to his three sons who battled it out. The back (right) is the identifying part, as it features Constans in the galley of a boat steered by Victory (who wouldn't want that?). It was made in Thessalonica and commemmorates his trip to England a few years before. I studied up on imitations made from moulds or faked in England and I don't think this is one. Ask me about it.

Next, a silver Vespasian denarius (RIC 43), from AD 70-71. Vespasian is most remembered for the invasion of Britain, putting down the Judean uprising and getting the ball rolling on the Colloseum. The back of this one has some ceremonial religious items--simpulum, sprinkler, jug, and lituus. Yeah.

You can see the fibula and the whorl wheel on the ad for the Kingston Springs sale this weekend. These items are for sale beginning Friday, February 17 at 8:00am. Find the address there on Wednesday. We don't give out prices ahead of the sale (or after the sale, for that matter), but now you know my research and you can be sure we will price them fairly.