Hanging lamp
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Hanging lamp
Rome; early Christian; 5th c.
Hanging lamps of this kind were used in the catacombs from the 1st c. and were produced in large numbers and kinds in the 4th and 5th c. In early Christian times the fish was the symbol of Christ.
The Greek word IHTHYS (meaning fish) was taken by the early Christians as an ideogram and each letter is the beginning of a new word: Ihthys = Iesous Hristos Theou Hyos Soter = Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour. Thus the word is a cryptogram: It was enough to draw a fish for people of the same faith to understand what was meant and that there was no fear of discovery.