Article by hi joiney
(4845, 'Structure and function br Nepalese Buddhist bronze ritual vessel with oil lamp The handle is cast as a serpent with open jaws and the plate fronting the oil tray features a bas relief of Ganesh with a consort In use a flickering light would fall upon the deity br Oil lamps were used not only for household lighting but also for funerary and votive purposes Lamps were used for domestic purposes in homes and for public purposes in temples and most public buildings br By studying the lamp s designs symbols structure and decorations and the material of which it is made we can identify the age and perhaps the locality of the lamp The lamp can also give us insights into the culture of its users and their social status br Occasionally the design of the lamps also reveal the female reproductive system Indian bronze lamps with a protruding central portion are supposed to project the male genitalia on a female womb with light representing origin of life in most cases br Components br Double nozzled oil lamp found in Samaria br The following are the main external parts of a terra cotta lamp br Shoulder br Pouring hole br The hole through which fuel is put inside the fuel chamber The width ranges from 0 5 5 cm in general There may be single or multiple holes br Wick hole and the nozzle br It may be just an opening in the body of the lamp or an elongated nozzle In some specific types of lamps there is a groove on the superior aspect of the nozzle that runs to the pouring hole to collect back the oozing oil from the wick br Handle br Lamps come with and without a handle The handle comes in different shapes The most common is ring shaped for the forefinger surmounted by a palmette on which the thumb in pressed to stabilize the lamp Other handles are crescent shaped triangular and semi oval 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 acus or festuca with which the wick was trimmed Others think that the pierced lugs were used to hang the lamp with a metal hook when not in use br Discus br Volute br Fuel chamber br The fuel reservoir The mean volume in a typical terra cotta lamp is 20 cc k br Wicks br Various types of cotton wicks for oil or ghee lamps kept for sale in Ulsoor Market Bangalore These are primarily used for lighting a diya br A wick is placed over the nozzle and extends into the fuel chamber Most lamps come with one nozzle a few lamps have more from two to twenty nozzles However the more nozzles the greater the fuel consumption br The wick was made of different materials linen flax papyrus tow or ordinary rush The thickness of the wick is an important factor too thin wicks burn fuel more slowly than thick ones However the thickness of the wick does not have much effect on the size of the flame citation needed br Fuel br The main fuel in Western nations was whale oil though extracts from fish crude fish oil nuts and cheese was also used Oozing crude petroleum was also used The fuel was poured into the fuel reservoir via the pouring hole in the discus br Castor oil was used by the ancient Egyptians In Africa carrot oil peanut oil mustard oil and nettle oil are used Indian lamps especially for use in puja almost exclusively use ghee as fuel br Among other fuels used have been coal oil and paraffin kerosene in paraffin lamps also called kerosene lamps and coal oil lamps br Lamp holders br Lamps were usually put in lamp holders when in use for example br Fastened to a wall by a nail or a wooden wedge br Hung suspended from brackets br Placed in a candelabra br Placed in niches in the wall br Put on lamp stands of different shapes br Or were carved as part of stone lamp pillars br Production methods br Before the Middle Bronze Age br Oil lamp found in Lascaux made with red sandstone 17 000 BP br Before the invention of the wheel in the Middle Bronze Age lamps were made by hand br Wheels br An early form of the potter wheel was invented and introduced in the Middle Bronze Age and used to manufacture lamps until around the 3rd century BCE br Lamp molds br The use of molds was first developed in Greece and Egypt during the 3rd century BCE In Roman times stone clay or plaster molds were utilized on a large scale across the Roman Empire until around the 8th century CE br Plaster versus clay molds br To make a lamp two molds are needed one for the upper part and one for the lower part Some pairs of molds have knobs and corresponding holes to fit the two molds together br In order to create the mold an archetype or patrix is first made Plaster or clay is then formed around the patrix which dries and hardens into a mold br Clay molds are removed from the patrix before they are fully dried They are then kiln fired thus they may deviate or shrink from their original form Clay molds need more labor than plaster ones However clay molds are more durable br Plaster molds are dried completely and then removed from the patrix Plaster thus makes an accurate replica but it has the disadvantage of leaving some surface granular artifacts br Due to the perishable nature of plaster it has proven difficult to find remains of ancient plaster molds Several clay molds however have been recovered By studying the surfaces of surviving lamps it seems that plaster was preferred to clay br Lamp typology br 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 br Please help improve this article by expanding it Further information might be found on the talk page August 2009 br Lamp typological categories br Typologically lamps of the Ancient Mediterranean can be divided into six major categories br Wheel made br This category includes Greek and Egyptian lamps that date before the 3rd century BCE They are characterized by simple little or no decoration and a wide pour hole a lack of handles and a pierced or unpierced lug Pierced lugs occurred briefly between 4th and 3rd century BCE Unpierced lugs continued until 1st century BCE br Volute Early Imperial br With volutes extending from their nozzles these lamps were predominately produced in Italy during the Early Roman period They have a wide discus a narrow shoulder and no handle elaborate imagery and artistic finishing and a wide range of patterns of decoration br High Imperial br These are late Roman The shoulder is wider and the discus is smaller with fewer decorations These lamps have handles and short plain nozzles and less artistic finishing br Frog br This is a regional style lamp exclusively produced in Egypt and found in the regions around it between ca 100 300 CE The frog is an Egyptian fertility symbol br African Red Slip br African Red Slip lamps were made in North Africa but widely exported and decorated in a red slip They date to the second century CE 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 and it is hypothesized that this is to take back spilled oil These lamps often have more than one pour hole br Slipper br These are oval shaped and found mainly in the Levant They were produced between the 3rd to 9th century CE Decorations include vine scrolls palm wreaths and Greek letters br Factory lamps br Also called Firmalampen from German these are universal in distribution and simple in appearance They have a channeled nozzle plain discus and 2 or 3 bumps on the shoulder br Initially made in factories in Northern Italy and Southern Gaul between 1st century and 3rd centuries CE they were exported to all Roman provinces The vast majority have been stamped to identify the manufacturer br Oil lamps in religious contexts br Judaism br Lamps appear in the Torah and other Jewish sources as a symbol of ighting 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 its religion br nd you shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light that a lamp may be set to burn continually Exodus 27 20 br hen you set the lamps the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lamp stand menorah Numbers 8 1 4 br here I shall cause pride to sprout for David I have prepared a lamp for my anointed Psalms 132 16 br or a commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light and reproving discipline is the way of life Proverbs 6 23 br man soul is the lamp of God which searches the chambers of one innards Proverbs 20 27 br lamp is called a lamp and the soul of man is called a lamp Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 30B br Chanukah br The Temple Menorah a ritual seven branched oil lamp used in the Second Temple forms the centre of the Chanukah story and centers on the miracle that during the cleansing of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem after its looting the proceedings required 8 days but there was only oil enough for one miraculously the oil burnt for 8 full days br Christianity br Oil lamp burning before the icon of St Mercurius of Smolensk Kyiv Caves Monastery Ukraine br There are several references to oil lamps in the New Testament br our eye is the lamp of your body when your eye is sound your whole body is sound your whole body is full of light but when it is not sound your body is full of darkness Luke 11 34 br
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