The relief plate with figures of Nike from Platon Ustinov’s collection and the lead sarcophagi from Jerusalem of the 3rd-5th centuries

The paper publishes an item from Platon Ustinov’s collection using a photograph made at the end of the 19th century (Fig. 1). The collection assembled in 1878-1913 included a large number of items from the Abu-Kabir necropolis in Jaffa; a greater part of the collection was bought by the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo University. The paper corrects the wrong attribution of the item described in the inscription on the photograph as a stone relief. The paper proves that it is a plate from a lead coffin featuring a relief decoration. Such coffins were known in the Mediterranean, in the 3rd-4th centuries they were made in coastal cities in Phoenicia. There is one workshop located in Palestine heartland, which operated in Jerusalem producing hundreds of items in the 4th-6th centuries. These items were decorated with Ancient Greek narrative scenes, with some Judeic and Christian elements added. Magic elements imitating bands and wreath derivates in the form of coiled rods were typical of this shop.