1,700 Year-Old Oil Lamp Engraved with Menorah Uncovered in Jerusalem

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – Archaeologists excavating in Jerusalem announced last week that they unearthed a rare 1,700-year-old oil lamp with a clearly defined Jewish Temple Menorah engraving on it, Crosswalk reports.

Experts have said discovery of the lamp is all the more remarkable as little evidence has been uncovered of Jewish life in Jerusalem from the third to the fifth centuries, after Roman Emperor Hadrian suppressed the Bar Kochba rebellion and expelled Jews from the city in 135 AD.

Announcing the find on Thursday December 26, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said the ancient lamp is believed to be a “Beit Nattif-type” named after an ancient workshop unearthed nearly 100 years ago near Bet Shemesh, a town west of Jerusalem.

“Oil lamps with menorah decorations are exceedingly rare, and only a few similar Beit Nattif-type lamps can be found in the National Treasures archive, IAA research archaeologist Benjamin Storchan said in a statement.

“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. It seems that the lamp belonged to a Jew, who purchased it because of its religious affiliation and memorial to the Temple,” Storchan explained.

“It is evident that the lamp maker dedicated a great deal of time and effort to its decoration,” Storchan added. “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,” he said.

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