An electric discharge lamp

An electric discharge lamp comprising:a light-transmissive ceramic discharge vessel (1);a first and a second current conductor (2,3) entering the discharge vessel (1)and each supporting an electrode (4,5) in the discharge vessel (1); an ionizable filling comprising a rare gas and a metal halide in the discharge vessel (1);at least the first current conductor (2) within the discharge vessel (1) being halide-resistant, characterized in that the first current conductor (2) at least substantially comprises a material with an at least substantially isotropic coefficient of thermal expansion, said material preferably being chosen from the group of YpSi3Xq, wherein Y is chosen from Mo, W and Ta and X is B, Al, N or C with 4 < p:5 5 and 0 < q < 1. More preferably, said material is of the composition Mo6(Six, Moi-X)4(Cy, Sil-y)6 with 0.10:5 x < 0.55 and 0.15