The book consists of 49 papers and two Appendices. The themes covered are: Greeks around the Hellespont, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Western, Northern and Eastern Black Sea, and Relations with the Mediterranean World; Romans around the Hellespont, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Western, Northern and Eastern Black Sea, and Relations with the Mediterranean World; The Black Sea and Surrounding Regions in Late Antiquity and the Early Byzantine Period; and New Excavations and Projects. With a short introduction by John Boardman.

The collection in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum illustrates the range of bronze lamp production in the Eastern Mediterranean from the Archaic to the Late Roman world. The collection is particularly rich in lamps from the Early Christian period and also includes polycandela for glass lamps. Although provenance is often lacking, the Istanbul lamps nevertheless offer a useful and interesting body of material for the student of lighting technology in the ancient world. The present catalogue lists metal lamps, lampstands, polycandela, lanterns, suspension chains, and lamplids which have entered the museum's collection up to the end of 1998. Only a few examples of the collection are published.