Editing Oil lamp (section)

==Types==
Lamps can be categorized based on different criteria, including material ([[clay]], [[silver]], [[bronze]], [[gold]], [[Rock (geology)|stone]], [[Slip (ceramics)|slip]]), shape, structure, design, and imagery (e.g. symbolic, religious, mythological, erotic, battles, hunting).

Typologically, lamps of the [[Ancient Mediterranean]] can be divided into seven major categories:

; [[Potter's wheel|Wheel-made]]: This category includes Greek and Egyptian lamps that date before the 3rd century BC. They are characterized by simplicity, with little or no decoration, a wide pour-hole, a lack of handles, and a pierced or unpierced [[Lug (knob)|lug]]. Pierced lugs occurred briefly between the 4th and 3rd century BC. Unpierced lugs continued until the 1st century BC.

; Volute, Early Imperial: With spiral, scroll-like ornaments called [[volute]]s extending from their nozzles, these lamps were predominantly produced in Italy during the [[History of the Roman Empire#27 BC–AD 14: Augustus|Early Roman]] period. They have a wide discus, a narrow shoulder, no handle, elaborate imagery and artistic finishing, and a wide range of patterns of decoration.

; High Imperial: These lamps are late Roman. The shoulder is wider and the discus is smaller with fewer decorations. These lamps have handles, short, plain nozzles, and less artistic finishing.

; Frog: This is a regional style lamp exclusively produced in [[Egypt]] and found in the regions around it, between {{circa|100}} and 300 AD. The [[frog]] ([[Heqet]]) is an Egyptian fertility symbol.

; [[African Red Slip]]: Lamps made in North Africa, but widely exported, decorated in a red slip. They date from the 2nd to the 7th century AD and comprise a wide variety of shapes including a flat, heavily decorated shoulder with a small and relatively shallow discus. Their decoration is either non-religious, [[Christianity|Christian]] or [[Jewish]]. Grooves run from the nozzle back to the pouring hole. It is hypothesized{{by whom|date=September 2015}} that this is to take back spilled oil. These lamps often have more than one pour-hole.

; Slipper: These lamps are oval-shaped and found mainly in the [[Levant]]. They were produced between the 3rd to 9th centuries AD. Decorations include vine scrolls, palm wreaths, and [[Greek letters]].

; Factory lamps: Also called {{langx|de|Firmalampen}}, these are universal in distribution and simple in appearance. They have a channeled nozzle, plain discus, and two or three bumps on the shoulder. Initially made in factories in [[Northern Italy]] and Southern [[Gaul]] between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, they were exported to all Roman provinces. The vast majority were stamped on the bottom to identify the manufacturer.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}