Pilgrims returning home during the early Byzantine period carried with them numerous objects with sacred inscriptions. In Jerusalem—and in Syria—terracotta oil lamps were made with a specific formula of blessing mentioning both the Blessed Virgin as Theotokos and a certain John whose identification either with a saint or the manufacturer of these lamps remains unclear. The Archaeological Museum of Hatay in southeastern Turkey holds a lamp of this type, probably dating to the 6th century AD or shortly thereafter.
The aim of this research, based on a series of unpublished lamps from Mersin, Malatya and Mardin museums and all the necessary parallels, is to propose a new hypothesis on the chronology and diffusion of the type of lamps Donald Bailey nicknamed “teapot-shaped”, well attested in continental Turkey (Konya, Akşehir, Sagalassos), where their production is very well framed. In the coastal part of Asia Minor, on the contrary, this type seems to know at least three peaks of production: the Hellenistic period, the 2nd to 3rd century AD and, finally, the 6th century AD.
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