Lighting the Way Through History

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No one knows who invented the oil lamp or exactly when it happened. Did this idea of how to control fire evolve slowly, or was it a sudden inspiration that entered the mind of an ordinary person who then continued to lead a quite ordinary life?

In either event, it was an idea that changed history. The oil lamp provided movable, protected and controllable light to the world for thousands of years, really until the advent of electricity and the electric light bulb.

It seems so simple. Take a bowl or a saucer of oil, probably olive oil. Float a piece of fiber, probably a flax wick, on the edge of the bowl. Lean the wick over the rim and apply fire to the fiber. The fiber, or wick, as we call it, will burn in a controlled way for hours or days, especially if more oil is added from time to time, as the wick gradually and evenly soaks up the oil which burns at the end of the wick. Perhaps it only seems simple in retrospect.

Not only is the inventor of the oil lamp unknown, we don’t even know where the inventor lived—in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Northern Syria, Canaan or elsewhere. Nor do we know when this person lived—in the fourth, fifth, or sixth millennium B.C., or perhaps even earlier.

All we know is that archaeologists have found fourth or third-millennium B.C. bowls or saucers with telltale burn marks at one or more points on their rims, indicating that these vessels had been used as lamps. These first “lamps” were apparently ordinary, mostly small, saucers in no way specially adapted by the potter to their function as lamps.

In the last part of the fourth millennium B.C., these simple bowl-shaped lamps, bearing black soot marks at one or more points around the rim, were burnished or rubbed smooth with a stone to close all the minute openings. Burnishing prevented fluids—including oil when the bowl was used as a lamp—from seeping out. By the second half of the third millennium B.C., these burnished bowl lamps were in widespread use. They have been found in the palace at Jericho, in the cemetery at Ai and as grave offerings at Azor in the central part of Israel.

Gradually, however, special bowls and saucers were designed to be used as lamps. By the end of the Early Bronze III period (2650 B.C.–2350 B.C.), lamps with 045special places for the wicks were made. The potter, when making a bowl intended for use as a lamp, simply pressed or pinched the rim of the bowl outward at one or more points, creating a rudimentary wick-rest where one or more wicks could be placed. The wick or wicks remained securely in the wick-rest without sliding about even when the lamp was carried from one place to another. This was a significant technological improvement.

In the archaeological period known as the Middle Bronze I period (2250 B.C.–2000 B.C.), there was a sudden and drastic change in oil lamp design. Large numbers of four-spouted lamps were made. Fashioned by hand on a slow-moving turnet (a stone or wood platform rotated by hand), the lamp was created from an ordinary bowl that was transformed into a squarish shape by folding four little semicircular flaps or flanges toward the center of the bowl, like envelope flaps. This created four wick-rests at the four corners of the square-shaped bowl between the ends of the flaps. (Interestingly enough, during this same period, so-called envelope handles made by the same technique were used on large storage vessels.)

As suddenly as these four-spouted lamps appeared, they also disappeared. Perhaps burning four wicks at the same time proved too expensive and even wasteful when the price of oil went up, or perhaps four-spouted lamps disappeared because they were manufactured only by a particular group of people who left the scene. Whatever the reason, it seems that by the beginning of the Middle Bronze II period (1750 B.C.–1550 B.C.), only a very few four-spouted lamps were used, and after 1750 B.C. the form disappeared forever.

The four-spouted lamp was not the only significant lamp design contribution of the MB I people. Indeed, the MB I period appears to have been a time of great creativity and experimentation in lamp design. Examples of MB I 047lamp innovation were uncovered in 1970 in a cave at Kadesh of the Galilee, where archaeologists found a collection of unique MB I oil lamps consisting of crude bowls pressed at several points to make more than one wick-rest and placed on high, trumpet-shaped bases.

From the same period, archaeologists found the first lamps with decorations or a sign or two; these markings reflect a cultural identity and give a human, personal touch to the lamps.

The first specially designed single-spouted oil lamp made from a shallow bowl, with an incurved rim, also dates to the MB I period. This single-spouted lamp was used side-by-side with the four-spouted oil lamp for about 250 years, but then the four-spouted lamp design ended, and the new single-spouted type continued in use with only minor changes for more than 1,500 years.

In the second half of the Late Bronze Age (1400 B.C.–1200 B.C.), an important change was introduced in the rim design of lamps. This change did not necessarily improve the functioning of the lamp, but it has proved very helpful for archaeologists, because it makes dating the lamps an easier matter. When archaeologists find this type of rim, they know that the lamp and the stratum in which it is found are no older than 1400 B.C.–1200 B.C. Before this time, the lamp rims curved inward. We saw this in the case of the single-spouted lamps, which had rims that curved inward and were pinched inward by two fingers to form the single spout or wick-rest.

In the middle of the Late Bronze period, however, the rim changed. A single spout was still created by pinching it into the bowl, but the rim of the bowl was bent outward to form a flattened ledge. In later periods the width and angle of the out-bent ledge changed from time to time; these changes in the ledge enable archaeologists to date the various forms.

Perhaps the introduction of the out-bent ledge in the Late Bronze Age was utilitarian; perhaps it made the lamp easier to hold or to grasp by the ledge or to hang. Perhaps the out-turned rim is just a pleasing design. Whatever its function, this distinctive rim is a hallmark to the archaeologist seeking to date a lamp. Before the mid-Late Bronze period, rims tended to go inward; from then on they were bent outward.

In thinking about the development of the oil lamp, it may be helpful to distinguish between the principal line of development, on the one hand, and the introduction of unusual types on the other. This becomes especially important in the Iron Age (1200 B.C.–586 B.C.).

In Iron Age I (1200 B.C.–1000 B.C.), the shapes of the oil lamps were similar to those in the previous Late Bronze period. All the rims curved outward, but there was a tendency to a more pronounced wick-rest. The wick-rest was pinched, and the bowl adjacent to the rest was pushed inward. The wick-rest assumed a somewhat triangular shape protruding from the bowl and occupied a larger part of the edge of the bowl than did spouts in the Late Bronze Age lamps. The Iron Age I oil lamp saucers are either shallow or deep; the bases are flattened or curved. The clay used is the same as that in other vessels at the time; the clay surface was neither burnished nor painted.

Alongside these quite common Iron Age I lamps, some unusual forms appeared. For the first time, the rim is folded over the spout, so much so that the opposite rims attach to one another and form a true spout. The result is two holes in the top of the lamp; the wick was placed in one and oil was poured into the other. As we shall see, two separate holes on the top of the lamp later became the typical feature in Hasmonean, Roman and Byzantine lamps, although these lamps were fashioned in a very 048different way.

Another established form at the end of Iron Age I is the bowl with seven wick-rests^a that was usually attached to a high stand. This lamp was no doubt used for cultic and public purposes and was, as suggested by Carol Meyers,^b the lamp form used in Solomon’s Temple.

But the ordinary household lamp continued to be the simple spouted bowl with an everted (turned-out) rim and a flat or rounded base.

However, within this basic lamp type, archaeologists looking at Iron Age II (1000 B.C.–587 B.C.) lamps can distinguish between those from the north and those from the south of Israel. The differences between northern and southern lamps developed during the period of the Divided Kingdom, when the monarchy, previously united under David and Solomon, was split between Israel in the north (920 B.C.–722 B.C.) and Judah in the south (920 B.C.–587 B.C.).

The northern oil lamps continued to be made in the same general pattern as before. They seem to be somewhat shallower with a more carinated (angled) cross-section; the rim flattens out into a ledge; bases are flattened or slightly curved. The clay, mostly pink, is rather heavy.

The typical southern oil lamp, when looked at from above, is identical to the northern type. But, seen from the bottom, the southern lamp differs from its northern counterpart by the addition of a rather heavy and sometimes clumsy disc base which really did not add any stability to the oil lamp. Some of the bases are high and 049cut from the wheel without finishing. The clay is the same as in the northern lamps. These oil lamps served in Judah well into the sixth century B.C., when they became smaller.

Although southern oil lamps are not found north of Megiddo, northern oil lamps are found in the south in almost equal proportions to the southern-form oil lamps.

During the Persian period (587 B.C.–333 B.C.) that followed the Babylonian conquest of Judah, the oil lamp acquired a very special appearance. Its base became wide and smoothed by a sharp tool to make it very flat. The Persian period lamp had almost no body; its wide, flat ledge rim started right above the base. The wick-rest tended to be higher than the ledge rim, and when the lamp was placed on a flat surface, it leaned backwards. There was almost no reservoir for oil in the shallow, tipped-back saucer, and oil was likely to be spilled. The clay of many Persian period oil lamps was much lighter colored than that of earlier lamps. Size varied from very large to ordinary. At the end of the Persian period, the saucer lamp, whose basic shape had lasted for 1,500 years, simply died out—probably as a result of the influence of new lamp forms introduced from the west, particularly from Greece.

The first Greek lamp imports to Israel actually date from the seventh century B.C. and were found at Mesad Hashavyahu, a Mediterranean coast settlement in the southern part of the country. Until then, the manufacture of oil lamps in Palestine had been a local industry. These earliest Greek lamps were bowls with a separate closed wick-rest or nozzle attached to the outer rim of the bowl. Gradually this lamp developed into the one-piece closed form with two holes in the top.

The saucer lamp was quickly and almost permanently replaced by the Greek “closed” lamp with two 050openings—one for the wick and the other to receive the oil. Imported lamps of this type began to flood the country in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., and local manufacturers soon began to make their own imitations.

The new, locally made lamps were much smaller than the old lamps. The dimensions of the new lamps were about 3.5 inches (9 cm) long, 1.6 to 2.4 inches (4 to 6 cm) wide and 1 to 1.2 inches (2.5 to 3 cm) high. The earlier oil lamps were about the same width but were 4.3 to 6.3 inches (11 to 16 cm) long and 1.2 to 2 inches (3 to 5 cm) high.

From about the third century B.C., oil lamps were regarded as works of art. The Greeks themselves, although recognized as the masters of classical art, whose artistic achievements in sculpture, architecture and pottery were admired throughout the world, did not decorate their lamps. Decorations of the new handmade and the later mold-made lamps first appeared in the Greek East, in the workshops of Delos, Cnidos, Ephesus, Alexandria in Egypt, and finally in Israel. Each of these centers of lamp manufacture developed its own lamp style; these lamps were then dispersed widely over the ancient world. Moreover, in these eastern workshops, lamps were first made in molds rather than on the wheel.

During the Roman period, which began in the second century B.C., almost all lamps were mold-made. An oil lamp mold was composed of two parts. Initially, these two parts were almost identical. A layer of clay was pressed inside the two parts of the mold. When leather-hard, the two parts were taken out. One became the base, the other the upper portion. Then the two halves were pressed together, the joint was smoothed, and a wick hole and a filling hole were cut in the top half. Finally, the lamp was fired in a kiln.

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Several materials were used for making molds; in Israel limestone was the most common. With the help of a compass, all the decorative details were engraved on the limestone and hollowed with a drill and smoothed; then the patterns were added with another sharp tool. In Rome itself, molds made of clay and plaster were prevalent. They were fashioned by using a complete lamp as a model.

The shape of the Roman oil lamp differed from that of earlier lamps. Its body, seen from above, was round; it rested on a low disc base, or on a ring base. Roman lamps had distinctive spouts. They were wide and flanked by volutes. The shape of the end of the spout varied from round to triangular. The round central area of the upper part of the lamp was called the discus or mirror. In early lamps the discus was large, leaving almost no shoulder area around it. The size of the discus diminished in later Roman lamps, and as it did, the shoulder area around it became wider. A small opening in the center of the discus served as a fill-hole for oil, and a tiny secondary hole at the edge of the discus may have served as an air bubble vent or perhaps allowed adjustment of the wick. Early Roman lamps were fashioned without handles; later, handles were added in the form of vertical ledges between the discus and the rear of the oil lamp.

The discus was a natural place for decorations. The 053early oil lamps were decorated in radial lines or rosettes. The repertoire of decorations grew to include almost everything: geometrical floral motifs, gods of the Romans, kings and emperors depicted as gods, scenes from daily life, etc. The demand for these lamps was enormous; they were shipped to all parts of the Roman Empire and carried along by the army as well.

The Roman oil lamps were also imitated in other countries, and local lamp producing centers sprang up everywhere.

One independent local lamp industry produced the well-known Herodian lamp, named by modern scholars after King Herod the Great (37 B.C.–4 B.C.), during whose reign the lamps first appeared.^c The Herodian lamps were wheel-made and mostly undecorated, in contrast with the elaborately decorated mold-made Roman lamps that dominated the market. On only a few Herodian lamps do we find a plain line, or a single circle, or concentric circles incised or stamped on the spout; the techniques of incising and stamping “designs” were already in use on Hellenistic and Roman pottery. The 054Herodian lamps were in use until 135 A.D., the date of the end of the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome, led by Bar Kokhba.

After the Roman destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. and the exile of the Jews from Jerusalem, Jewish refugees settled in the Judean Hills, in the Hebron region and in the Beit-Gubrin region where a new wave of lamp making began and spread rapidly.

The new oil lamps combined the basic shape of Herodian oil lamps with stylistic elements of Roman lamps. They also reflected the craftsmanship of Jerusalem stone cutters whose skill had built the Temple, decorated limestone ossuaries, and carved delicate molds of coins. Out of all these influences the Jewish decorated oil lamp was born. These oil lamps became the chief form of Jewish popular art of this period. They have been named lamps of the darom. Darom in Hebrew means “south,” a reference to the region settled by the Jews expelled from Jerusalem in 70 A.D., which included the Hebron area, the southern part of Judea, and the caves of the Judean desert. An outburst of popular art occurred on the darom oil lamps; the decorative motifs expressed longing for the Temple and its rebuilding and the memory of the festivals. For example, we find the lulav (a cluster of myrtle, willow and palm fronds bound together) and the etrog (a lemon-like fruit) (both symbols of Succot); the Temple candelabrum depicted with eight to ten (rather than seven) branches so as not to violate the injunction against exact depiction of the Temple menorah;^d baskets of fruit as a reminder of the festival of Shavuot; numerous plants; and the dove and the fish. To properly observe the second commandment’s proscription of image making, 055some people—more strict than others—disfigured molds with the dove and the fish before reusing them.

Toward the end of the third century and during the entire Byzantine period (up to the seventh century), lamps became one of the “signatures” of the Jews, the Samaritans and the Christians.

During this period, late Roman to Byzantine, the traditional symbols depicted on the darom lamps continued, but the prohibition against representation of the menorah became less strict, and the menorah was represented accurately with its seven branches. One type of lamp from this period is designated the “Beit Nattif” type, named after the village in southern Judea where examples of it were found. Lamps and the two halves of one mold were found in a cistern, where ancient craftspeople had discarded them. Elaborately decorated, the Beit Nattif lamps bear flowers, geometric designs, human beings, animals, and facades of synagogues and other public buildings. Those with menorahs were clearly made for Jews. On all the Beit Nattif lamps, the menorah was always flanked by a mahta (incense shovel) and a shofar (ram’s horn), or other Jewish ritual objects. Some of the lamps had multiple wick-rests arranged in straight lines. Oil lamps of the Beit Nattif group were made over a long period, from the third to the fifth century A.D.

The Samaritans, a very large part of the population during these times, lived principally in Samaria, but they also settled toward the west, as far as the coastal plain. Samaritan oil lamps were similar in some details to the Beit Nattif lamps, but differed from lamps of the mainstream Jewish population in several important ways. Samaritan script appears on some Samaritan lamps; Jewish lamps were bare of script of any kind. The Samaritans observed purity laws very strictly. All the lamps produced for their use were made with a closed discus that probably remained sealed until just prior to the lamp’s use. (Presumably this precaution made contamination of the oil less likely.)

Samaritan lamps were decorated with geometric and some floral patterns; like Jewish lamps, they bore no pictures of human beings or animals. The seven-branched menorah was frequently depicted but in a different form from Jewish examples. However, the incense shovel and the shofar rarely appear. A new ritual object decorates Samaritan lamps—the knife or dagger. We do not know if the knife is one used in circumcisions or whether it is the knife used to perform the ritual Passover sacrifice of a lamb on Mt. Gerizim, the Samaritan holy mountain.

Christian symbols began to appear on lamps in the middle of the fourth century. The Greek cross replaced the menorah design on the nozzle of some seven branched candlestick-type lamps. We also find inscriptions in praise of Jesus on this lamp type. We found large numbers of these lamps in and around Jerusalem and even in other parts of the country. On other oil lamps, we found the first two Greek letters of Christos, X (chi) and P (rho), which form a monogram. Some Christian lamps made in North Africa bear scenes from the Old and New Testaments.

Jewish, Samaritan and Christian lamps are often found side by side, testifying to the mingling of these populations during the Byzantine period.

Wheel-made oil lamps came back into fashion at the end of the Byzantine period. They are boot-shaped, with a separately made attached nozzle and handle, and the body is often banded. This type of oil lamp continued into the Early Arab period.

The Moslem invasion in the first part of the seventh century did not immediately revolutionize lamp design.

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Initially the Moslems adapted some of the Byzantine lamp forms. On the familiar Byzantine seven-branched candlestick lamp, Greek script in praise of Jesus gives way to Arabic script praising Allah.

Only in the late seventh and eighth centuries do we begin to find distinctive new types of oil lamps, mainly an almond-shaped style with a pointed nozzle. The body of the almond-shaped lamp was covered with geometric patterns and delicate vines forming medallions embracing stylized branches of grapes. The only animal known to decorate Arabic oil lamps is the dove; the dove usually stands in a leading position at the end of a vine, not pecking at the vine, as it does in the Byzantine oil lamps. The Moslems also developed a slipper-shaped lamp on which the flowing Arabic script was used as the decorative element, either without meaning or as a phrase in praise of Allah.

After centuries of elaboration of the original simple bowl lamp into a myriad of shapes and decorations, lamp design returned in the 14th century to its starting point. At Ramla in central Israel, and in Jerusalem, a crude sort of wheel-made saucer with a pinched resting place for a wick was found. No inscriptions, no rims or crosses or menorahs were added to this basic functional saucer, reminding us that throughout the ages it was the light shed by the flickering flame that was the ultimate purpose of the oil lamp.

The lamps in this article were photographed by Zev Radovan, courtesy of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums. For further information, see Varda Sussman, Ornamented Jewish Oil-Lamps From the Destruction of the Second Temple Through the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, Israel Exploration Society, 1982).

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No one knows who invented the oil lamp or exactly when it happened. Did this idea of how to control fire evolve slowly, or was it a sudden inspiration that entered the mind of an ordinary person who then continued to lead a quite ordinary life?