Jerusalem: 1,700-year-old oil lamp with Jewish symbolism discovered

The Israel Antiquities Authority discovered an oil lamp from about 1,700 years ago with symbols of the Jerusalem Temple near the Mount of Olives in the Israeli capital.

The object found is decorated with a menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum that is a symbol of Judaism), a mahta (palette or small vessel used for sacrificial rituals in the Temple) and a lulav (a closed frond of the date palm, used on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot).

This unique find, which has been dated to the late Roman period according to soot marks, could shed light on the existence of a Jewish settlement in the region at that time.

The lamp "expresses the deep and abiding connection of the nation of Israel to its heritage and to the memory of the Temple”

Michael Chernin, director of excavations at the Israel Antiquities Authority, explained that the symbols found on the oil lamp are related to the Jewish population's connection to the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Israeli archaeologist added that after the Roman emperor Hadrian suppressed the rebellion of Bar Kohba in 135 AD, the Jews were expelled from the city, making the object one of the few material traces of the Jewish presence in the vicinity of Jerusalem between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD.

"The exquisite artistic workmanship of the lamp, which was found complete, makes it exceptional and extremely unusual," Chernin said.

Archaeologist Benjamin Storchan, a researcher with the Antiquities Authority, explained that the Temple menorah was already a Jewish symbol during the Second Temple era (516 B.C.E. - A.D. 70).

However, Storchan added, after the destruction of the Temple, the image of the menorah became an important icon in the collective memory of Jews both in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora. It sometimes appeared on personal objects, such as oil lamps, which, being instruments of illumination, perhaps evoked the feeling of lighting the menorah of the Temple.

The researcher further indicated that the choice of symbols on the lamp is not accidental, as it is a fascinating testimony to the link between everyday objects and the world of faith of the inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.

Storchan believes that the lamp may have belonged to a Jew who acquired it for its religious significance and its connection to the memory of the Temple.

Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, Israel's Minister of Heritage, referred to the correlation between the time of the find and the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Eliyahu said that the lamp "connects the lights of the past with the festival of Chanukah today and expresses the deep and lasting connection of the nation of Israel with its heritage and with the memory of the Temple."