THE FIRST KNOWN INTACT SEVEN NOZZLE STONE OIL LAMP FROM THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD

Archaeometric analysis of a circular oil lamp with seven nozzles, composed of silica-enriched hard chalk of the Mount Scopus (Cretaceous, Senonian) sequence exposed in the Jerusalem area, verifies its ancient origin. This intact ceremonial oil lamp, the oldest found to date, is the product of the chalk industry related to religious purity laws that flourished during the late Second Temple Period in Jerusalem and environs. The calcite and calcium oxalate layered patina, microcolonial fungi and pearl-like microbes are attached firmly to the lamp's outer, inner and decorated surfaces. The patina indicates slow natural development in a cave environment as well as slow evolution in several stages during burial. Traditional decorations are carved in the upper part of the lamp: a seven-branched menorah, a date palm tree, a grape leaf and grapes, olive branches, an ear of barley, an ear of wheat, a basket with a fig and pomegranates. This is the oldest object found to date decorated exclusively with the symbols of the menorah and the seven plant species similar to the coinage elements of the early first century.