Terracotta lamp representing Bes

Terracotta lamp representing Bes

Description:

A small lamp with a short nozzle and flat rim is embedded in a deeper bowl and attached to a vertical handle decorated on the front with a figure of Bes. Incised in the Cypriot syllabary on the rim of the lamp is the inscription "of Philotimos," who was perhaps the maker or owner.


9 3/16 in., 1 lb. (23.3 cm)

Period:

Archaic II

Date:

550 - 500 BC

Collection:

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Provenance:

Said to be from Rizokarpasso, Karpasia, Cyprus

References:

Hall, Isaac H. 1874. "Cypriote Inscriptions of the Di Cesnola Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." Journal of the American Oriental Society, 10: no. 17, p. 211, pl. IV.Hall, Isaac H. 1875. "The Cypriote Inscriptions of the Di Cesnola Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City." Journal of the American Oriental Society, 10: no. 17, p. 211, pl. IV.Schmidt, Moritz. 1876. Sammlung kyprischer Inschriften in epichorischer Schrift. pl. 21.3, Jena: Hermann Dufft.Birch, Samuel. 1876. "On Some Cypriote Antiquities Discovered by General di Cesnola at Golgoi." Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, 4. p. 21.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1877. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. pl. VIII.56, London: John Murray.Deecke, Wilhelm. 1884. Die griechisch-Kyprischen Inschriften in epichorischer Schrift. p. 142, Göttingen.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1885. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 1. pl. CXLII.1059, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Hall, Isaac H. 1885. "The Cypriot Inscriptions of the Cesnola Collection in New York." Journal of the American Oriental Society, 11: no. 142, p. 231.Hoffmann, Otto. 1891. Die griechischen Dialekte in ihrem historischen Zusammenhange mit den wichtigsten ihrer Quellen. 1. Der süd-achäische Dialekt. no. 55, p. 43, Göttingen.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1894. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 2. pl. CXLII.1059, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1903. A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Vol. 3. pl. CXL.14, Boston: James R. Osgood and Company.Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 1855, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Masson, Olivier. 1961. Les Inscriptions Chypriotes Syllabiques: Recueil Critique et Commenté. no. 329, p. 329, Paris: E. de Boccard.Masson, Olivier. 1971. "Inscriptions chypriotes retrouvees ou disparues." Syria, 48(Fasc. 3/4). p. 448 n. 5, fig. 13.Wilson, Veronica. 1975. "The Iconography of Bes with Particular Reference to the Cypriot Evidence." Levant, 7. no. 8, p. 102.Sophocleous, Sophocles. 1985. ""Atlas des représentations chypro-archaiques des divinités." Master's Diss.." Master's Diss. no. 3, p. 168. Paul Aströms Förlag.Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). 1986. Vol. 3: Atherion-Eros. "Bes (Cypri et in Phoenicia)," p. 110, no. 23, pl. 88, Zürich: Artemis Verlag.Karageorghis, Vassos, Joan Mertens, and Marice E. Rose. 2000. Ancient Art from Cyprus: The Cesnola Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. no. 289, pp. 176-77, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Karageorghis, Vassos, Gloria Merker, and Joan R. Mertens. 2016. The Cesnola Collection of Cypriot Art : Terracottas. no. 121, pp. 74, 257, Online Publication, [CD-Rom 2004], New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Accession Number:

74.51.2364