Oil Lamp

Israel: Megiddo, Stratum III; Iron Age IIC, 8th century B.C. Baked clay. Excavated by the Oriental Institute, 1925-34. "Lamps such as this one consist of a bowl to hold fuel, which was usually olive oil, and a spout to support a wick, which was probably made of flax. The burning wick blackened the spout and must have produced a rather smoky light. The shape of these lamps changed over time, going from an open bowl with four pinched spouts to the one-spouted type shown here and, finally, to a closed lamp with a single spout. These differences in shape are one type of evidence used by archaeologists to date the levels they are excavating."

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