Oil lamps were used throughout antiquity to produce light with an oil-based fuel source. Craftsmen and artisans from the Holy Land were skilled in potting terracotta lamps which burned with the oil of the area’s abundant olive trees. The lamps’ designs, shape, and decorations all serve as indicators of the time and place of production, as well as of the culture and standard of living enjoyed by the lamps’ users. Oil lamps from the Holy Land differed in their decoration from the traditional motifs of other civilisations.
Holy Land Terracotta Oil Lamp
$93.38
A Holy Land terracotta oil lamp of ‘cocked hat’ type with shallow bowl and slightly pinched spout in gritty orange coarse ware.
Period: Holy Land Late Bronze Age I
Condition: Some encrustation within the bowl and on the underside, traces of soot deposits on the spout, overall surface wear.
SOLD