An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. They work in the same way as a candle but with fuel that is liquid at room temperature, so that a container for the oil is required. A textile wick drops down into the oil, and is lit at the end, burning the oil as it is drawn up the wick. Oil lamps are a form of lighting, and were used as an alternative to candles before the use of electric lights. Starting in 1780, the Argand lamp quickly replaced other oil lamps still in their basic ancient form. These in turn were replaced by the kerosene lamp in about 1850. In small towns and rural areas the latter continued in use well into the 20th century, until such areas were finally electrified and light bulbs could be used. Sources of fuel for oil lamps include a wide variety of plants such as nuts (walnuts, almonds and kukui), seeds (sesame, castor, or flax) and fruit (olive). Also widely used were animal fats (butter, ghee, fish oil, shark liver, whale oil, or seal oil). Camphine, made of purified spirits of turpentine, and burning fluid, a mixture of turpentine and alcohol, were sold as lamp fuels starting in the 1830s as the whale oil industry declined. Sales of both camphene and burning fluid decreased in the late 1800s as other sources of lighting, such as kerosene made from petroleum, gas lighting and electric lighting, began to predominate. Most modern lamps (such as fueled lanterns) have been replaced by gas-based or petroleum-based fuels to operate when emergency non-electric light is required. Oil lamps are currently used primarily for their ambience.
Components
The following are the main external parts of a terra-cotta lamp:
Shoulder Pouring hole The hole through which fuel is put inside the fuel chamber. The width generally ranges from 0.5–5 cm (0.2–2.0 in). There may be one hole or multiple holes. Wick hole and the nozzle May be either an opening in the body of the lamp or an elongated nozzle. In some specific types of lamps, there is a groove on the top of the nozzle that runs along to the pouring hole to re-collect the oozing oil from the wick. Handle Lamps can come with a handle. The handle can come in different shapes. The most common is a ring-shaped for the forefinger surmounted by a palmette, on which the thumb is pressed to stabilize the lamp. Other handles can be crescent-shaped, triangular, or oval-shaped. The handleless lamps usually have an elongated nozzle, and sometimes have a lug rising diagonally from the periphery. The lug may act as a small handle where the thumb rests. Some lugs are pierced. It was speculated that pierced lugs were used to place a pen or straw, called the Latin: acus or festuca, with which the wick was trimmed. Others think that the pierced lugs were used to hang the lamp on a metal hook when not in use. Discus Fuel chamber The fuel reservoir. The mean volume in a typical terra-cotta lamp is 20 cc (20 mL).
Types Lamps can be categorized based on different criteria, including material (clay, silver, bronze, gold, stone, slip), shape, structure, design, and imagery (e.g. symbolic, religious, mythological, erotic, battles, hunting). Typologically, lamps of the Ancient Mediterranean can be divided into seven major categories:
Wheel-made This category includes Greek and Egyptian lamps that date before the 3rd century BC. They are characterized by simplicity, with little or no decoration, a wide pour-hole, a lack of handles, and a pierced or unpierced lug. Pierced lugs occurred briefly between the 4th and 3rd century BC. Unpierced lugs continued until the 1st century BC. Volute, Early Imperial With spiral, scroll-like ornaments called volutes extending from their nozzles, these lamps were predominantly produced in Italy during the Early Roman period. They have a wide discus, a narrow shoulder, no handle, elaborate imagery and artistic finishing, and a wide range of patterns of decoration. High Imperial These lamps are late Roman. The shoulder is wider and the discus is smaller with fewer decorations. These lamps have handles, short, plain nozzles, and less artistic finishing. Frog This is a regional style lamp exclusively produced in Egypt and found in the regions around it, between c. 100 and 300 AD. The frog (Heqet) is an Egyptian fertility symbol. African Red Slip Lamps made in North Africa, but widely exported, decorated in a red slip. They date from the 2nd to the 7th century AD and comprise a wide variety of shapes including a flat, heavily decorated shoulder with a small and relatively shallow discus. Their decoration is either non-religious, Christian or Jewish. Grooves run from the nozzle back to the pouring hole. It is hypothesized that this is to take back spilled oil. These lamps often have more than one pour-hole. Slipper These lamps are oval-shaped and found mainly in the Levant. They were produced between the 3rd to 9th centuries AD. Decorations include vine scrolls, palm wreaths, and Greek letters. Factory lamps Also called German: Firmalampen, these are universal in distribution and simple in appearance. They have a channeled nozzle, plain discus, and two or three bumps on the shoulder. Initially made in factories in Northern Italy and Southern Gaul between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, they were exported to all Roman provinces. The vast majority were stamped on the bottom to identify the manufacturer.
In religious contexts
Judaism
Lamps appear in the Torah and other Jewish sources as a symbol of "lighting" the way for the righteous, the wise, and for love and other positive values. While fire was often described as being destructive, light was given a positive spiritual meaning. The oil lamp and its light were important household items, and this may explain their symbolism. Oil lamps were used for many spiritual rituals. The oil lamp and its light also became important ritualistic articles with the further development of Jewish culture and religion. The Temple Menorah, a ritual seven-branched oil lamp used in the Second Temple, forms the centre of the Chanukah story.
Christianity
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