An oil lamp is an object used to produce
light for a period of time using an oil-based
fuel source. The use of oil lamps began
thousands of years ago and although not
much common anymore, does continue to
this day.
Oil lamps are a form of lighting, and were
used as an alternative to candles before
the use of electric lights.
Sources of fuel for oil lamps include a wide
variety of plants such as nuts (walnuts,
almonds) and seeds (sesame, olive, castor,
flax). Also widely used were animals fats
(butter, fish oil, shark liver, whale blubber,
seals).
The main external parts of a terracotta
lamp are the shoulder, the pouring hole,
the wick hole and the nozzle.
The nozzle may be just an opening in the
body of the lamp, or have an elongated
shape. In some specific types of lamps,
there is a groove on the upper part of the
nozzle that runs along to the pouring hole
to re-collect the oozing oil from the wick.
Lamps can come with or without a handle
and a handle may have different shapes.
The most common is a ring shaped for the
forefinger surmounted by a palmette, on
which the thumb is pressed to stabilize the
lamp. Other handles can be crescent
shaped, triangular, or semi-ovular. The
handleless lamps usually have an
elongated nozzle, and sometimes have a
lug rising diagonally from the periphery.
Herodian oil lamps are considered to be
mainly used by Jews. They are
predominantly wheel made and rounded,
furnished with a nozzle of concave sides.
Herodian lamps are usually not decorated,
and when decorated then the decoration
tends to be rather simple. They date from
the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st
century AD and represent a very common
find throughout the Israeli territory, with
some examples having also been found in
Jordan.
The Herodian Dynasty was a royal dynasty
of Edomite descent, ruling the Herodian
Kingdom and later the Herodian Tetrarchy,
as vassals of the Roman Empire. The
Herodian dynasty began with Herod the
Great, who assumed the throne of Judea
with Roman support, bringing down the
century long Hasmonean Kingdom. His
kingdom lasted until his death in 4 BC,
when it was divided between his sons as a
Tetrarchy, which lasted for about 10 years
and with a nominal title of kingship
continuing until 92 AD., when the last
Herodian monarch Agrippa II died and
Rome assumed full power over his de jure
domain.
- (BB.1559)
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