BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Archaeologists Find Rare Lamp Decorated with Temple Menorah

1,700-year-old lamp uncovered in Jerusalem

The ancient oil lamp. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) uncovered a remarkable and rather surprising oil lamp during an excavation near the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Although oil lamps have been common household objects throughout history, the decorations of this particular lamp make it extremely rare, as it depicts various Jewish ritual objects from a time when few Jews lived in the area of Jerusalem.

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Lighting Late Roman Jerusalem

The clay oil lamp, which dates to roughly 1,700 years ago, features several Jewish ritual objects, including the Temple menorah, an incense shovel, and a lulav (a date palm branch used during the festival of Sukkot). While the lamp itself is quite expertly made, it is the lamp’s date that makes it particularly intriguing. There is little evidence of Jewish settlement in the area in the third to fifth centuries CE, following the expulsion of the Jews from Jerusalem by Roman Emperor Hadrian at the end of the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (c. 135 CE).

According to Benjamin Storchan of the IAA, “The nozzle and lamp shoulders were decorated with geometric designs and the center features a detailed depiction of the seven-branched menorah with a tripod base. Oil lamps with menorah decorations are exceedingly rare and only a few similar lamps can be found in the National Treasures archive. The choice of symbols on the lamp is not accidental. This is a fascinating testimony connecting everyday objects and faiths among ancient Jerusalem’s inhabitants.”

Close-up of the menorah, incense shovel, and lulav. Courtesy Emil Aladjem, IAA.

“The lamp was made using delicately and intricately carved limestone molds using drills and chisels,” continued Storchan. “The molds were made in two parts (upper and lower). To create the lamp, the potter pressed the clay into the molds and then pressed them together. Finally, the vessel was fired, and it could be used. This method of producing lamps in molds allowed for refined designs, as well as the addition of delicate and intricate decorations.”

The Temple menorah was already a Jewish symbol during the Second Temple period but became even more important as an icon of Jewish collective memory following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The Arch of Titus in Rome famously depicts the Roman army carrying the Temple menorah as plunder from their conquest of Jerusalem. Even in early times, the menorah would occasionally appear on objects such as lamps, where it may have served to evoke the lighting of the Temple menorah itself. Today, this tradition is continued in the festival of Hanukkah with the lighting of menorahs.

Related reading in Bible History Daily:

Jerusalem Discoveries from the Time of Jesus

Jerusalem’s Iron Age Moat Discovered

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Jerusalem’s Golden Tomb

Jerusalem and the Holy Land(fill)

Lighting the Way Through History