Illuminating the Past

36 NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 78:1 (2015)

Ameera Elrasheedy and Daniel Schindler

ILLUMINATING THE PAST: Exploring the Function of Ancient Lamps

View of Kedesh Valley from the southern hill of Tel Kedesh, Israel. Photograph by Daniel Schindler.

To archaeologists, artifacts and architectural features act as puzzle pieces used to reconstruct the past.1 Occasion-ally however, small artifacts such as lamps do not figure

largely in the reconstruction of life in antiquity. We classify lamps by type and use them as chronological indicators: reduced to a role where they contribute little to our ideas about the big picture of daily life in the past.2 In part this may be because the function and role of a lamp in a household seems readily understood and identifiable to us. Our presumed familiarity with the way in which lamps function has resulted in a dearth of scholarly discussion on the practicalities of lamp usage in antiquity. This brief article seeks to fill that void by presenting the results of multiple experiments using replicas of two com-mon shapes of ancient lamps, as well as various types of wicks. In this article we seek to answer the following questions: How did pottery lamps actually work in antiquity and how well did they function? And finally, we reflect on how the answers to these questions impact us as archaeologists.

Our investigation of lamps began in the summer of 2008, when we took part in a joint archaeological excavation, un-dertaken by the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan, at the site of Tel Kedesh in the Northern Galilee (figs.

1–2). The focus of the excavation was a large Hellenistic admin-istrative building constructed on top of an earlier structure dat-ing to the Persian period. Following our field experience at the site, we were charged with creating a catalog of the lamp sherds from the 1999 and 2000 excavation seasons. During our work on the catalog we discovered that the lamp sherds were found in very specific areas of the building: the eastern private section of the building yielded over twice as many lamp fragments as found in the western administrative section of the building. This quan-titative discrepancy made us wonder why so many more lamps were present in the residential as opposed to the administrative area. This question inspired our experiments.

In order to begin to answer these questions, we first turned to the work of Donald Bailey. In his handbook Greek and Roman Pottery Lamps, he states: “The requirements of pottery lamps are simple: a container for the fuel, the fuel itself, a wick to enable the fuel to burn and to feed the fuel to the flame, and a continu-ous air supply…Pottery lamps are a cheap and practical means of illumination…Although we can be sure that daylight governed life to a far greater extent than at the present time, pottery lamps were used by every stratum of society.”3 We interpreted Bailey’s words to mean that a lamp was easy to both produce and use;

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NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 78:1 (2015) 37

and that they worked well as a light source. Therefore, we de-signed our experiments in order to investigate the functionality of lamps in antiquity. Our first task was to decide which lamps to replicate and test. We chose two common wheel-made types found at Tel Kedesh.

The open lamp type is one of the earliest found at Tel Kedesh. It dates to the Persian period (fifth and fourth centuries b.c.e.); it is referred to both as a Cocked Hat Lamp and a Folded Lamp. Es-sentially, this lamp is a small bowl about 10 cm in diameter,4 with an outturned rim that is folded or pinched in to form a rudimen-tary nozzle for the wick. The capacity for fuel differed widely in these lamps, as the lamps themselves often varied in size. At Tel Kedesh, the smallest capacity was one fluid ounce with the larg-est recorded at 16 oz. The folded lamp represents the most com-mon type of lamp found at Tel Kedesh; 218 fragments of folded lamps were recovered from the 1999 and 2000 excavations. They are primarily found in Phoenician Semi-Fine Fabric, which is a typically buff-colored fabric that can range from a very pale beige to a deep orange/red, with white and black inclusions. The clay is fairly soft and well-levigated with a chalky texture.5

Closed wheel-made lamps are the second most common form of lamp found at Tel Kedesh, the most prevalent of which is the closed lamp that has a small globular body with flat shoul-ders. It is approximately 4 cm high with a 9 cm diameter. The lamps found at Tel Kedesh are a Levantine version of a common and widely distributed type first made in Athens, which were initially identified by Richard Howland in his seminal catalogue

of the lamps from the Athenian Agora, as Howland 25C.6 The lamps present at Tel Kedesh have little to no decoration, with the exception of slip and the occasional incised ring around the fill hole. As with the open lamp, the majority of the closed lamps are made out of Phoenician Semi-Fine fabric. Based on the average size of these types of lamps at Tel Kedesh, the fuel reservoir could have held 5 oz of oil.

In order to perform our experiments, we went to a local pot-ter, Jan Kochendorfer, to make replicas of the two types of lamps. Kochendorfer based her replicas on the lamps’ size, shape, meth-od of manufacture, and fabric. For the replica of the open lamp (fig. 3), Kochendorfer used a number two red, mid-range firing stoneware clay, which is similar in composition to the Phoeni-cian Semi-Fine fabric. The open lamp fragments often had traces of a clay slip on the interior, making the material less porous and thus less likely to absorb the oil. This method of making the fab-ric less absorbent was replicated by Kochendorfer, who applied a non-viscous liquid clay slip on the inside of our replica. Kochen-dorfer created an open lamp with the average diameter found at Tel Kedesh, 10 cm, and made the lamp as deep as the deepest lamp found, holding 16 oz.

Like the folded lamps at Tel Kedesh, the closed lamps were also frequently made of Phoenician Semi-Fine fabric, so for our replica (fig. 4) the same number two red clay was used. The closed lamps at Tel Kedesh came in a wide range of sizes, with our replica mimicking the dimensions of the larger lamps with a diameter of 9 cm and a reservoir depth of 3 cm, providing a

Figure 1. Excavation site of the Hellenistic administrative building on Tel Kedesh. Photograph by Victor Morgan.



maximum capacity of 5 oz of oil, approximately the same as the Athenian versions would have held. We replicated the slip found on the inside of the ancient examples.

According to Kochendorfer, the closed lamp was significantly harder to make than the open lamp and took more time. While she was able to make a closed lamp in one attempt, she noted that it did not match exactly the lamp she had been using as a model. This is unlike Kochen-dorfer’s open lamp, which was virtually indistinguish-able from an ancient, intact open lamp. This suggests that a more experienced potter would be needed in order to create the wheel-made closed lamps. Both in the case of the open and closed lamp, it took approximately 20 min to shape the body on the wheel. The open lamp required a resting time of one hour be-fore the rim could be pinched in to form a suitable nozzle. The closed lamp, on the other hand, required a resting time of two to three hours before the nozzle could be attached to the body. We see then that besides requiring more skill, the closed lamp requires al-most double the time to make.

The next step for us was to determine what type of wick and fuel would be used in the experiment. Bailey writes that, “The fuel used in ancient lamps depended largely on availability—olive oil was probably the principle fuel employed in most Mediterranean countries.”7 For the purposes of this experiment, we used olive oil and ani-mal fat because both of these fuels would have been available, especially animal fat, which can be collected while butchering an animal.

Determining the material to employ for the wicks was more difficult. Initially, we assumed that a wick could be made from any absorbent fiber that would funnel oil to the open flame. Based on the animal and plant life in this region the three most likely choices for wick material were either goat or sheep’s wool,8 or flax. Bailey states that wicks could have been made out of any fibrous material such as linen, papyrus, mullein, oakum, and cas-tor plant fibers.9 One of these materials, oakum, is also attested in an ancient textual source. In his Naturalis Historia Pliny states that inferior flax, or oakum, is best suited for lamp wicks, “The part that is nearest the skin is called oakum– it is flax of inferior quality, and mostly more fit for lamp wicks” (Natural History 19.3.17).10 We chose to test wicks made of all three fibers since all three fit Bailey’s requirements and because flax was mentioned specifically by ancient sources.

After deciding on what material to use to make the wicks, we were faced with the question of how exactly wicks would have been made. We were not certain if the fibers were first spun into thread before being braided into a wick, or if they were unspun and merely braided together. Therefore we made and tested wicks using both spun and unspun fibers.11

We then proceeded to test the various types of wicks with the intent of learning four things: 1) the ease with which the wick would ignite; 2) the type of flame each wick produced; 3) the burn time for each type of wick, using one ounce of fuel in both the open and closed lamps; and 4) the amount of light emitted by each lamp using the optimal wick.

In our experiments using the animal fibers, we discovered that neither the goat nor sheep wool would stay lit, despite hav-ing been soaked in oil or fat. Moreover, for the brief time that they did burn, they emitted a foul and intense odor. These issues made us suspect that animal hair was not regularly used for lamp wicks in antiquity. On the other hand, flax worked well and regu-larly lit with little effort. Proceeding with woven flax, both spun and unspun, we created wicks in three diameters: 5 mm, 8 mm, and 10 mm. Ten millimeters was the largest diameter of wick that could be threaded into the closed lamp nozzle; 5 mm was the smallest diameter at which we were able to weave the flax; and 8 mm was used as an average. The 5 mm wicks performed poorly: the flame was low and the wick was quickly carbonized and consumed. The 8 and 10 mm wicks performed well: they stayed lit and produced a strong flame, with the 10 mm wick producing a slightly larger flame. Furthermore, the flax wicks did not produce heavy smoke or an offensive odor.

Figure 2. Excavation site of the Hellenistic administrative building on Tel Kedesh. Photograph by Victor Morgan.



The next step was to test how quickly each type of wick, both unspun and spun, consumed one ounce of olive oil and animal fat. In the open lamp, the unspun flax averaged 50 minutes of burn time while the spun flax averaged 65 minutes. In the closed lamp the unspun flax wicks burned for an average of 60 minutes while the spun flax wicks burned for 70 minutes.

As these times reveal, spun flax wicks burn longer than unspun versions, and closed lamps are considerably more efficient than open ones. It appears that the closed nozzle of the closed lamps prevents the flame from advancing down the wick, and thus con-suming more fuel. The nozzle accentuates the purpose of the wick, which is to draw up oil from the reservoir.

We also discovered that it was necessary to observe and adjust the wick. This adjust-ment was made with a long and thin metal knife that was used to draw the wick for-ward a centimeter or two at the time, and to further ad-just the wick to create optimal light. In antiquity, any non-flammable long and slender object could have been used in this task, such as a needle or pincers.

The open lamp required the most attention out of the two. To create an optimal flame with this lamp, it was necessary to create a small gap between the wick and the floor of the pinched nozzle. This is because if the wick lays flat against the floor of the nozzle, a small and ineffective flame would be produced due to lack of airflow. The necessary gap was created by taking a knife and twisting the wick until it stuck slightly up into the air. The only other way to adjust the wick and make a larger flame was to simply pull the wick forward past the pinched nozzle. When, however, the wick is pulled out beyond the edge of the nozzle of the open lamp, it produces a high and oily flame that quickly consumes the fuel.

No such adjustments had to be made with the closed lamp. In fact, during the experiments with the closed lamp, each type of wick only had to be adjusted once. We concluded from this that a closed lamp makes use of its wick more efficiently. It should be said that with both lamps, despite having been burning for an hour, not much wick was consumed. This suggests that a single flax wick could be used repeatedly or that it could burn for many hours.

During use, neither lamp reached a point where it was too hot to be handled or to be moved. Occasionally however, the flame of both types of lamp in each experiment would flare up causing oil

and fat to spill and bubble out from the nozzle. This problem was solved by putting a dish below the lamp to catch the spilling fuel, which made the area around the lamp cleaner, and also meant fuel was not lost in these occasional flare-ups.12

In order to determine how suitable the lamps would have been for use as a primary light source, we measured how many lumens

(lm) each flame emitted us-ing a Logger Pro version 3.61 program and Vernier Light Sensor.13 We measured only the 10 mm spun and woven flax wick in each lamp type as this was the most efficient wick variety. The open lamp averaged 2 lm per square foot of light while the closed lamp averaged 4 lm per square foot, a twofold improvement.

As a means of comparison we also measured the num-ber of lumens emitted from a modern eight-inch taper candle. The candle emitted just over 2 lm per square foot of light. Thus, an open lamp provides the same illumina-tion as a single modern can-dle whereas the closed lamp is the equivalent of two mod-ern candles.

Our experiments showed that closed lamps were a sig-

nificant improvement over open lamps. We determined that the enclosed nozzle of the closed lamp ensures that a flame is only emitted from the end of the nozzle. In the open lamp, on the other hand, the flame can freely travel down the wick as more of it is exposed to the air, thereby consuming the fuel more rapidly overtime if not checked. The flame that is emitted lower down in the open lamp does not provide much light since it is trapped in the folds of the folded rim. Finally, the closed lamp forces the wick to stick up vertically out of the nozzle hole causing light to be freely emitted in all directions.

We have discovered that the best wicks are made of spun plant fibers – though unspun examples also work. Wicks made from animal hair, however, did not work as effectively and created a noxious odor. Closed lamps provide a number of clear advan-tages over open lamps. In addition to the most obvious observa-tion that the covered body would lessen the spillage of fuel, in a closed lamp the wick lasts longer and burns brighter, producing twice as much light as an open lamp. This doubling in efficiency is certainly responsible for the technological progression from open to closed lamps. While a closed lamp took more time and a more skilled potter to create, it was twice as efficient as the open lamp. In time, with the advent of the mold-made lamps, the is-sue of time and skill required to make the closed lamp would be solved.

Figure 3. Replica of an open lamp. Photograph by Daniel Schindler.



Nevertheless, both open and closed lamps emitted an amount of light equal to only one to two modern candles at maximum brightness (fig. 5). This in turn suggests that lamps were not as useful for interior lighting as one might think. In thinking about the earlier assertions made by Bailey, we can see indeed that while lamps were easy to use, they were not suitable to create blanket illumination within a space.

The results of our experiments suggest that lamps were not used as a primary light source. While it is tempting for us to look at a lamp and think immediately of our own experiences, working late into the night lit by a desk lamp or computer glow, we must understand that this is not how things were necessarily done in antiquity. We spoke with Dr. Bryan Wolynski, an ophthalmologist who special-izes in visual impairments and the use of different types of lighting and contrast in lenses to help ameliorate these impairments. Dr. Wolynski informed us that the human eye can accommodate vary-ing levels of light, and that for the purpose of understanding the use of lamps in domes-tic spaces, we would need to know about Dark Adaptation, or to put it plainly, how the eye transitions from a well-lit to a low-lit space. Within the human eye, biochemical changes are processed in the back of the eye, by the cones and rods, which allow us to see. Cones are responsible for how we see details and color, whereas rods are used more for peripheral vision and to process the colors black and white. Our rods are what are used primarily during low-light or nighttime situations. On average, it can take ap-proximately 30 min for our rods to actually adapt to darkness and low-light. Thus, while we are able to see and function in low light situations, we are not able to process detail or color. This would suggest then that while certain tasks could be undertaken in dim lighting – things such as weaving, needle-work, jewelry making, etc. – it would not be ideal to undertake them in the evening. Reading and writing, conversely, could oc-cur by the lamplight, without straining or causing damage to the eye.14

In today’s world, interior lighting allows us to subvert and ignore the time and place in which we are working or socializ-

ing. In antiquity, however, we see that the available light sources would not have allowed for similar behavior. The limited capa-bilities of lamps reflect well our initial observation of the lamp fragments distribution at Tel Kedesh. Given that lamps could not have produced the type of substantial, “blanket” lighting that we are accustomed to in our homes and work places, why do ar-chaeologists find so many of them in domestic spaces? Simon Ellis has suggested that lamps were used in supportive roles, es-pecially in conjunction with dining and artificial lighting.15 For example, the low light emitted from lamps placed in strategic lo-cations around a dining room could have accentuated any deco-ration, whether mosaics or wall paintings, creating areas of light

and shadow and reflecting the light around the room.16 A diner eating at a modern restaurant is likely to experi-ence this type of luminal the-atricality in the creation of “atmosphere” or “ambiance.”

Moreover, small lamps could have been used to ig-nite larger candelabras or torches to more fully lighten a room.17 Lamp-sized niches are frequently seen in the walls of many interior spaces in the ancient world, under-scoring their supportive role. Lamps could also have been used for purely religious pur-poses. At several sites in Isra-el, for example, archaeologists have identified oil lamps and lampstands possibly connect-ed to the celebration of the Sabbath – so-called “Sabbath lights.” What distinguishes these from other lamps is that they were designed with a res-ervoir substantial enough to allow the flame to burn from the onset of the Sabbath to its end without refilling.18

While it is oftentimes easy to identify objects and their functions, we must be careful when projecting our modern

understanding of an object onto an object from antiquity. Before conducting these experiments, we believed that lamps were like-ly easy to use and excellent sources of light. We were surprised that the lamps did not meet our modern expectations as light sources. These experiments, while providing us with new infor-mation regarding the function of lamps, also remind us that we do not live the same lifestyle as people in antiquity – a point that must always be remembered by us and all archaeologists charged with the task of reconstructing the past.

Figure 4. Replica of a closed lamp. Photograph by Daniel Schindler.



Notes1. The authors of this article are deeply indebted to Professor Andrea

Berlin for her help, guidance, and support with this article and lamp experiments, as well as to local Minnesota potter Jan Kochendorfer, without whom we would not have had the lamp replicas in order to perform these experiments. We also wish to thank our fellow classmates who were very supportive during our work on the lamp experiments and always full of helpful ideas. A sincere thanks is also owed to the University of Minnesota physics department who allowed us to use their facilities for our experiments, as well as to the Minnesota Weaving guild for providing us with the materials necessary with which to make the wicks. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Bryan Wolynski, for his insight on the biology of the hu-man eye.

2. An important exception has been work done on the iconography of lamps. For example, see Sussman 1982; Hachlili 1998.

3. Bailey 1972: 9, 11.4. This is the average diameter of the open Persian Period lamps found

at Tel Kedesh.5. Berlin 1997: 77.6. Howland 1958: 77. See also Rosenthal-Heginbottom 1995: 236, Tel

Dor Type 9.7. Bailey 1972: 10. Examples of rotary oil mills, common through-

out the Mediterranean during the Roman period, were recovered in regions such as northern Syria, Israel, Cyprus, and North Africa (Tyree and Stefanoudaki 1996: 2, 4).

8. Goat and sheep were the primary faunal remains found at the site of Tel Anafa which is only about 20 km away from Tel Kedesh, thereby cluing us into the quadrupeds present in the area (Redding 1994: 287).

9. Bailey 1972: 10–11.

10. Flax being woven into lamp wicks is also mentioned in the Book of Isaiah (Isa 43:17). In terms of the cultivation of flax, there was an industry present in Roman Syria which grew and wove flax into linen for export to the west out of Berytus, Tyre, and By-blus (Bouchier 1916: 163). It would not take much stretch of the imagina-tion to propose that some of these crops, especially the cheaper “oakum” flax, would have been used for lamp wicks.

11. For comparative purpos-es we also experimented with a tightly woven cotton wick in the open lamp. We do not present those results here as the cotton wick is not histori-cally accurate.

12. The dish that was used during our experiments was a glazed sand-wich plate: flat with upturned edges, 18 cm in diameter, and 2 cm in height to fit the dimensions of the lamps. A glazed plate was used to prevent oil or fat from seeping in. We looked at the Athenian Agora to see if any examples of such dishes exists. Several examples of plates, dating to the fifth and fourth centuries b.c.e., were the most practical shapes for this use/purpose being that they were flat, glazed or slipped, and had an upturned rim (Sparkes and Talcott 1970: 146–47). However, it is hard to discern if these plates, or plates of similar shapes at other sites, would have been used for this pur-pose. Bailey makes mention of lamp-holders being found in Britain that were used in this fashion but does not go on to describe them (Bailey 1972: 10). In any case, it would have been necessary for the lamp to be placed on something to collect excess fuel and to prevent any mess.

13. We thank the University of Minnesota Physics Department, and es-pecially Brian Anderson for the use of this equipment. The zero set-ting for the light sensor was set to a zero to 600 lux range and the lux count was later converted into lumens. During each experiment the flame was six inches away from the end of the sensor.

14. Dr. Bryan Wolynski is a 2000 graduate of the New England Col-lege of Optometry in Boston, MA, and has been a licensed op-tician since 1992. He continued his education by completing a residency in primary care optometry at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where he trained and taught optometry students, and worked with specialists in the fields of glaucoma, retinal disease, neurology, and specialty contact lens fittings. Dr. Wolynski is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and has presented cases at the Southern Council of Optometry and the American Academy of Optometry. He is cur-

Figure 5. Replica of an open lamp in use. Photograph by Daniel Schindler.



ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Ameera Elrasheedy received her M.A. in Art History and M.S. in Architecture from the Univer-sity of Minnesota Twin Cities, during which time she was a trench supervisor at the sites of Mes-sene and Mitrou in Greece, and Tel Kedesh in Israel. Currently, she is employed at CASE in New York, and a docent at the Brooklyn Museum, specializing in Egyptian and Classical art.

Daniel Schindler received his M.A. in Classical Archaeology from the University of North Caro-lina at Chapel Hill. He was a trench assistant at the site of Tel Kedesh for the 2008 excavation and since 2011 is the ceramic specialist at the site of Huqoq in the Eastern Galilee. Currently, he is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is writing his dissertation.

rently working on the growth and scope of optometric care for his practice and patients.

15. Ellis 2007. 16. Ellis 2007: 289–94.17. An example of such a scenario is illustrated by Ellis in a late antique

dining room in the House of the Bronzes in Sardis (2007: 292). For the House of the Bronzes, see Hanfmann 1960; Waldebaum 1983.

18. Doering 2010: 571. For examples of ”Sabbath lights,” see Getzov et al. 2009: 65–66, fig. 2.42: 5–11; Meyers et al. 1990: Pl. C: 16–19.

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Redding, Richard W. 1994. The Vertebrate Fauna. Pp. 287 in Tel Anafa I, i, ed. Sharon Herbert. Ann Arbor: Kelsey Museum.

Rosenthal-Heginbottom, Renate. 1995. Imported Hellenistic and Roman Pottery. Pp. 236 in Excavations at Dor, Final Report Volume IB Areas A and C, ed. Ephraim Stern. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Sparkes, Brian and Talcott, Lucy. 1970. Athenian Agora Volume XII: Black and Plain Pottery. Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

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