CITY OF LIGHTS: The Lamps of Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem

This article examines the ceramic oil lamps of Jerusalem during the Roman and Byzantine eras (63b.c.e.to 640c.e.). Following an overview of the importance of lamps to their ancient users and modern archaeologists, it demonstrates how the history of Jerusalem can be illuminated through the development of its lamps. This paper examines the forms, decorations, and chronology of the most prominent types — the Herodian, Decorated Discus, Beit Nattif, and Slipper Lamps. Bringing the artifacts into conversation with texts demonstrates that early Jewish and Christian writings attribute a number of meanings to lamps due to their function as repositories of light. Jerusalem is included within this matrix of symbols, as the city that both produces and receives a special divine light. This article demonstrates how lamps can shed light on materiality, the use of symbols, and the early histories of Christianity and rabbinic Judaism.