Terracotta oil lamp

Loeschcke Type 1A. Mold-made. Discus: a rhinoceros stands, facing right, tossing with its horn a large cat, probably a lion, while a small animal, possibly meant to be a baby rhino, hides in a tree behind and above; a single filling hole below the rhinoceros's belly, with a band of lines and grooves around edge. Volutes flanking angular nozzle. Raised base ring, outlined by two incised circles, and a flat base with the marker's mark impressed across it, reading in Latin: FAVSTI.

Intact.

On the discus a rhinoceros is shown tossing with its horn a large cat, probably a lion, while a small animal, possibly meant to be a baby rhino, hides in a tree behind. The rhinoceros, unknown in the Mediterranean world before Roman times, is only rarely depicted in Roman art and on coins; it is shown, for example, on the Roman mosaic from Lod, Israel. The base is inscribed FAVSTI ([of the lamp maker] Faustus); he seems to have worked in Italy, Egypt, and Petra (Jordan), as well as Cyprus.