Herodian Oil Lamp
40 B.C. – A.D. 70
Original lamp from Jerusalem
For thousands of years small oil lamps were used to light homes, temples, tombs, and any place where light was needed. Oil lamps were constructed of cupped stone, from seashells, or from any material that would contain the oil. The use of pottery containers for oil lamps was introduced in the 8th or 7th centuries BC. These were just simple saucers filled with oil, with a wick, often of flax, immersed in the oil and draped on the saucer’s rim. Olive oil was the primary fuel for these lamps, but other vegetable oils and animal fats could also be used. Eventually potters discovered that forming a small spout on the saucer helped to keep the wick in place, and then formed sides on the saucer to form a reservoir for the oil.
Beginning in the time of King Herod the Great (40 BC), the Jewish populace of Israel constructed simple clay pottery lamps that we now refer to as Herodian oil lamps. These were closed lamps, the rounded body of which was shaped on a potter’s wheel. The nozzle was made separately and then attached to the body, giving it a splayed shape, usually with concave sides. The joining of the nozzle and the body of the lamp was then smoothed with a knife (some therefore call this type “knife-pared lamps”). Unlike Roman lamps from the same period, the Herodian lamps were usually not decorated with ornamentation, probably due to strict interpretations of the Jewish law. Thousands of these lamps (and fragments thereof) have been found in various archaeological excavations throughout Israel.
The small size of the Herodian oil lamp certainly reveals why the five unprepared virgins in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) ran out of oil when the bridegroom was delayed beyond their expectation. The bridegroom in the parable represents Jesus Christ, and the intent of the parable is to encourage Christians to be prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus.
Beginning in the time of King Herod the Great (40 BC), the Jewish populace of Israel constructed simple clay pottery lamps that we now refer to as Herodian oil lamps. These were closed lamps, the rounded body of which was shaped on a potter’s wheel. The nozzle was made separately and then attached to the body, giving it a splayed shape, usually with concave sides. The joining of the nozzle and the body of the lamp was then smoothed with a knife (some therefore call this type “knife-pared lamps”). Unlike Roman lamps from the same period, the Herodian lamps were usually not decorated with ornamentation, probably due to strict interpretations of the Jewish law. Thousands of these lamps (and fragments thereof) have been found in various archaeological excavations throughout Israel.
The small size of the Herodian oil lamp certainly reveals why the five unprepared virgins in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) ran out of oil when the bridegroom was delayed beyond their expectation. The bridegroom in the parable represents Jesus Christ, and the intent of the parable is to encourage Christians to be prepared for the Second Coming of Jesus.
