Ancient Oil Lamp Discovered in Jerusalem with Temple Menorah Design

Israeli scholar showing the recently discovered oil lamp (Photo credit: Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)

Archeologists of the Israel Antiquities Authority recently uncovered a rare 1,700 year old ceramic oil lamp in excavations in Jerusalem, decorated with Temple symbols such as a menorah, incense shovel, and lulav.

The lamp dates to the 4th century CE, around 200 years after the destruction of the Second Temple and is in remarkable condition. It would have been used with oil as an everyday lamp, but at the same time is decorated with references to the Temple - showing a beautiful, artistic connection to Judaism in the homes and lives of Judean Jews!

Close-up detail of the 1,700-year-old oil lamp, showing a depiction of the Temple menorah with a lulav on the left side and an incense shovel on the right (Photo credit: Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)

"The exquisite artistic workmanship of the lamp, which was found complete" makes this "an outstanding and extremely rare" artifact, according to excavation director Michael Chernin.

The fact that it was discovered in Jerusalem is also deeply significant, as very few other traces of Jewish life in the 3rd-5th centuries CE have been found in or around city. Following the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and later the suppression of the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 CE, Jews were officially expelled from Jerusalem - so this very Jewish lamp shows evidence of a defiant Jewish life continuing in the Holy City in the late Roman period!

As the Israel Antiquities Authority explains, "the Temple menorah became a Jewish symbol in the Second Temple period," and later "after the Temple’s destruction, the menorah image became an important icon in the Jewish collective memory both within Israel and the Diaspora."

And now you can bring the famous menorah into your own home as well, with seven-branched menorahs by Israeli artists right on our site!

The recently excavated 1,700-year-old oil lamp from Jerusalem, showing a Temple menorah design (Photo credit: Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)

The ancient lamp is decorated with a depiction of a seven-branched menorah, as a reference to the menorah that once stood in the Holy Temple.

This menorah design is a special symbol of Judaism's holiest place, and has historically been also used as a representation of Judaism itself and the Jewish people - a religious and cultural symbol that's even older than the Star of David!

Scholars from the Israel Antiquities Authority showing the ancient lamp (Photo credit: Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities Authority)

The discovered lamp was made a few centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple by the Roman army, which had looted the Temple Menorah as well. This means that despite the Temple and its menorah no longer standing, the Jewish people of Jerusalem and Judea still held them close to their hearts enough to depict them on their everyday objects!

Other symbols depicted on the lamp along with the menorah are an incense shovel, like the one used by the Priests in Temple rituals, and a lulav, which is a date palm branch used in Jewish rituals such as during the holiday of Sukkot.

According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, this oil lamp "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."

This amazing and inspiring artifact, in the words of Israeli Minister of Heritage Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu, "expresses the deep and long-standing connection of the nation of Israel to its heritage and to the Temple’s memory."

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