An Pottery Oil Lamp in the Ancient World

In todays society, there in a lot of things that we take for granted. During ancient times,
little things such as receiving light were a big deal and not everyone had this privilege. The
Middle East, Israel/Palestine, was a central region where ancient artifacts were discovered that
showed archaeologists the tools that were used and invented in order to have light. Light in
modern times can be accessed as simple as flicking a switch, but back in the ancient world, the
primary source of light was pottery oil lamps. Oil lamps were one of the most important items to
own inside a home. They were one of the items that a husband had to provide for his wife,
whether they were together or not (Westenholz, Let There Be Light, 8).
In the past, not everyone could afford to have light every single day. The Palestinians
were a group of people whose racial identity was Semitic. Semitic people where people who
arrived from Mesopotamia and inhabited the area. Over hundreds of years, the land was fought
over and power was exchanged from different hands such as the Assyrians, Babylonians,
Southern Judeans, Persians, and Greeks. The most influential groups were the Greeks, who were
under the ruling of Alexander The Great around 333 BCE.
During this time, Greek culture flourished and began to merge with other cultures, a
process known as Hellenism. Pottery was already introduced into the region long before
Alexander, but during this time of the Hellenistic period is when pottery became more advanced.
Oil lamps existed as well, but during the Hellenistic period, oil lamps were constructed better
built to provide better light with less smoke. Lamps were designed to be closed to avoid spilling,
as well as the majority of the ones made were handleless (Wikipedia, Oil Lamp).
Oil lamps were huge during the Hellenistic period. The discovery of oil
lamps were around the 20th century, mostly from the Tels of Megiddo and

Jericho (Varda, Oil-lamps in the Holy Land: Saucer Lamps - From the
beginning to the Hellenistic period). Oil lamps contained the oil reservoir and
the chamber where the wick was held. Lamps in Israel were primarily made
of clay, and the fuel used was mostly olive oil (Westenholz, Let There Be
Light, 11-13). Sesame oil, nut oil, fish oil, and castor oil were among some of
the other oils that were less popular (Bailey, Greek and Roman Pottery
Lamps, 10). The wicks were made from flax, which required a lot of
maintenance after burning multiple times. The wick would produce charcoal
after burning and the charcoal would have to be cut off in order to function
correctly (Westenholz, Let There Be Light, 13).
An item that we have observed seems to be from the Hellenistic period. The item
appeared to be handleless and closed off to avoid spilling. The item was made from clay and
roughly was 6 cm wide with a height of 9 cm. The nozzle wall thickness was roughly 14 mm.
The object was two toned, with the colors of tan and dark gray. The tan color was simply the
color from the clay, but the dark grayness was caused by something. The dark grayness was only
around the two holes made in the oil lamp.
The oil lamp was dark around the holes due to the flames. The Jewish term for this is pi
ba-ner, which means mouth of the lamp (Westenholz, Let There Be Light, 11-12). The oil
lamps could also be either wheel made, moulded or hand- modelling. Our lamp that we observed
appears to be moulded. The process of moulding was done by carving a mould into two pieces of
stone, and clay was pressed into the mould to be fired in a kiln until hard. Moulded oil lamps
could either be plaster or clay. Clay lamps needed to be fired, but plaster did not. Plaster moulds

could easily wear out, but clay moulds lasted much longer. (Bailey, Greek and Roman Pottery
Lamps, 13-14).
After the oil lamps were made, they would normally have images carved into them.
These images could range from depictions of Gods to sexual intercourse. Our oil lamp shows a
picture of a man and woman engaging in sexual intercourse. Images such as this in todays
society are regarded as being pornographic. The Romans viewed these images otherwise. The
term pornography, Greek word pornographein meaning to write about prostitutes, was created
by a German archeologist name C.O. Muller in 1850. Muller used this word to describe the
obscene images he saw on his archaeological excavations. (Clarke, Roman Sex, 11-12).
However, the Romans did not view sex as we view it in modern society. We view sex as a
shameful, sinful, and guilty act. Romans thought sex to be pleasureful and guilt free rather than
associate it with sin. Romans saw sex as pursing pleasure, no matter if the act was with a male or
female, or adolescent or adult. Sex was seen as a gift from the gods, especially Venus, the
goddess of love, beauty and sex (Clarke, Roman Sex, 57). The images on the oil lamp
symbolized an art that Romans loved to partake in. Lovemaking was considered a sport and was
supposed to be fun for both partners. (Clarke, Roman Sex, 15).
The oil lamp was a great addition to discovering the history of the land and telling the
story of how ancient kingdoms created light as well as their artistic abilities and views. Our
views have changed on certain things and our technology has advanced far beyond what was
before. However, its still important to dig into the past to see how things have evolved over time
and how groups that lived before us made their lives easier and more exciting.

Bibliography
Sussman, Varda. Oil-lamps in the Holy Land: Saucer Lamps: From the Beginning to the
Hellenistic Period: Collections of the Israel Antiquities Authority. Oxford: Archaeopress,
2007. Print.
Oil Lamp." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Feb. 2014. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
Bailey, Donald M. Greek and Roman Pottery Lamps. London: Trustees of the British Museum,
1972. Print.
Clarke, John R., and Michael Larvey. Roman Sex: 100 B.C. - A.D. 250. New York, NY: Abrams,
2003. Print.
Westenholz, Joan Goodnick. Let There Be Light: Oil-lamps from the Holy Land. Jerusalem:
Bible Lands Museum, 2004. Print.