A Herodian wheel-made oil lamp in pale orange terracotta. The lamp has a typical fan-like shape of the nozzle and is decorated with geometric motifs made by a small reed.
Circa 30 BCE to 1st century AD.
Second temple period, the time of King Herod the Great and Jesus.
Fine condition; complete and intact, with light limestone accretions to the sides and base.
Length 9.5 cms (3.7 ins).
Provenance: Ex Judge Steve Adler collection Jerusalem, acquired since the 1960's. Exported with export approval licence of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
See item 103: Israel in Antiquity; The Jewish Museum in New York; Andrew Ackerman and Susan Braunstein.Also, Noam Adler, Oil Lamps of the Holy Land: The Adler Collection, Israel 2004, page 16.
'These simple but elegant lamps are the first type that is found mainly in Jewish settlements and therefore considered to be used mainly by Jews' (Oil Lamps of the Holy Land: The Adler Collection; Israel 2004).
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