Ancient Israel Judaea Oil Lamp 1000BC Time of Solomon Start Price USD 249.99 Current Price USD 249.99 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, October 28, 2008 End Time Thursday, November 27, 2008 Location Lummi Island See more about 'Ancient Israel Judaea Oil Lamp 1000BC Time of Solomon' Description Your browser does not support JavaScript. To view this page, enable JavaScript if it is disabled or upgrade your browser. Click here to see almost 800 archaeology/ancient history books and 500 authentic ancient artifacts on our eBay store! Genuine Well Preserved Ancient Kingdom of Israel Clay Oil Lamp from the Time of King Solomon about 1000 B.C. CLASSIFICATION: Ancient Israel Clay Oil Lamp. ATTRIBUTION: Ancient Kingdom of Israel/Judaea (Modern Day Palestine) 1200-800 B.C. SIZE/MEASUREMENTS: Length: 141 millimeters (5 2/3 inches). Width: 144 millimeters (5 3/4 inches). Height: 47 millimeters (1 7/8 inches). CONDITION: Excellent. Very good integrity, no cracks or repairs. Slight chipping and soot deposits at nose (wick spout) consistent with usage in ancient Israel. A few very small chips at one side (visible in images) DETAIL: This is a very nicely preserved terracotta oil lamp dated to the early first or late second millennium B.C. from what was then the Kingdom of Israel and/or Judah. This style of oil lamp was used for many centuries, primitive but functional. Filled with vegetable or animal oil, a twisted wick was placed in the fold at the front of the lamp. Once it has soaked up some oil, ignited, it would continue burning for so long as there was oil in the bowl of the lamp. Close examination of this piece will reveal soot stains where the wick would have rested, as well as chipping consistent a flaming wick. This particular specimen is quite well constructed, very thick and durable. It was built to last a lifetime, and as is obvious, did considerably better than that. It is entirely intact – no breakage and no repairs, only some very minor chipping as is consistent with ancient use. Pottery is amongst the most abundant artifacts unearthed during excavations of ancient sites. Abundant throughout the region of the Levant, specimens such as this were even routinely and systematically exported throughout the Mediterranean. Most terra cotta pieces such as this were functional items, and tended to be rather plain. The most widely used pottery forms in the ancient world were oil lamps, bottles, unguentariums, pitchers, bowls and plates. Their basic shapes remained unchanged for over a thousand years. The bottles and pitchers were used to store wine, water, oil and other liquids. HISTORY: Human settlement in Judaea stretches back to the Stone Age and the region is believed by paleoanthropologists to have been one of the routes through which homo-sapiens traveled out of Africa to colonize the rest of the world around 100,000 years ago. However the Mousterian Neanderthals were the earliest known inhabitants of the area and can be traced back to about 200,000 B.C. The first anatomically modern humans to live in the area were the Kebarans (about 18,000 B.C.). They were followed by the Natufian culture (about 10,000 B.C.), the Yarmukians (8,500 to 4,300 B.C.) and the Ghassulians (4,300 to 3,300 B.C.). The Semitic culture followed the Ghassulians. During this period the inhabitants of the region became urbanized and lived in city-states, one of which was Jericho. Archaeological evidence of human settlement dates back 11,000 years in the case of the city of Jericho, believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the world. The area's location at the center of routes linking three continents made it the meeting place for religious and cultural influences from Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor. It was also the natural battleground for the great powers of the region and subject to domination by adjacent empires, beginning with Egypt in the 3rd millennium B.C. Traditional history refers to the early inhabitants as the sons of Shem and speaks of an invasion by a people called Canaanites (the Phoenicians) descended from Ham. “Recorded” history traditionally begins with Abraham being promised by God that he would become the father of a great nation. If the events described in the Bible actually took place, they would appear to take place circa 1,800 B.C. Terah and his son Abram (later named Abraham) move from the Sumerian city of Ur to the city of Haran. Abraham declares his belief in the One God, which initiates the beginning of Judaism. Abraham marries Sarai (later named Sarah). Abraham and his extended clan move to the land of Canaan (Israel). Abraham’s descendants became the most famous inhabitants of the region, the Israelites. Most historians believe these events to be purely mythical. What history does record is that in about 1600 B.C., Egypt was conquered by Canaanite tribes known as the Hyksos by the Egyptians. The Hyksos were eventually defeated by Kamose, the last king of ancient Egypt’s seventeenth dynasty. However it is believed that much of the Hyksosian population might have remained settled in the region of the Nile Delta under Egyptian dominion. Egypt's 19th dynasty began with the reign of Ramses I. Ramses II ( 1279- 1213 B.C.) signed a treaty with the Hittites after losing the northern Levant to the Hittite Empire. If Moses was a historical figure, this is about the time of the Exodus, and it is believed probable that the Exodus involved the remaining Hyksosian population, persecuted by the ethnic Egyptians, returning to the region of Canaan recently lost by Egypt to the Hittites. According to the Bible, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and eventually came to "the promised land" in Canaan (which was really a return to their ancestral homeland). Moses died before entering Canaan, and Joshua became the next leader. About 1,200 B.C. the Hittites were conquered from the North, and he northern coastal Canaanites (called the Phoenicians by the Greeks) were temporarily displaced, but returned when the invading tribes showed no inclination to settle but instead continued southward toward Egypt. The ancient Egyptians referred to this horde of invading tribes that swept across Asia Minor and the Mediterranean the “Sea Peoples”. Some hold that the Philistines originated from them. In any event by 1185 B.C. the invasion of the Sea Peoples had been repelled by the ancient Egyptians. Deflected back northward, the “Sea Peoples” settled in Canaan, in the cities of Gaza, Gat, Gezer, Ashkelon, and Ashdod. These people are the Philistines of the Bible and provided the name Palestine to the area. In about 1140 B.C. the Canaanite tribes tried to destroy the Israelite tribes of northern and central Canaan. According to the Bible, the Israelite response was led by Barak, and the Hebrew prophet Deborah. Ultimately the Canaanites were defeated, and ancient Israel was ruled by a series of “Judges”. Saul became the first king of the Israelites in approximately 1020 B.C. David succeeded him in 1006 B.C., and moved the capital from Hebron to Jerusalem. David waged several successful military campaigns, annexing a large area from Philistine to Damascus. David was succeeded by his son Solomon in about 965 B.C., who constructed the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem and had a prosperous reign. Following the death of King Solomon in about 922 B.C., the realm was divided into a Northern Kingdom, known as Israel and a Southern Kingdom, known as Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem. For the first sixty years the kings of Judah aimed at re-establishing their authority over the kingdom of the other ten tribes (the Northern Kingdom), so that there was a state of perpetual war between them. However for the following century they were for the most part in friendly alliance, co-operating against their common enemies, especially against the Syrians. In 722 B.C. the Assyrians under Shalmaneser, and then under Sargon the Great, conquered Israel (the northern Kingdom), destroyed its capital Samaria, and sent many of the Israelites into exile and captivity. The ruling class of the Northern Kingdom were deported to other lands in the Assyrian empire and a new nobility was imported by the Assyrians. Judah, the southern Kingdom, fell to the Babylonians a little over a century later in 597 B.C. When in 586 B.C. the conquest of Judah was completed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar, a large part of Judaea's population was exiled to Babylon. In 559 B.C. Cyrus the Great became King of Persia, and by 539 B.C. the Babylonian Empire fell to Persia. Persia ruled over Israel until 332 B.C., when the Persian Empire was defeated by the Macedonian Alexander the Great. In the power struggle which ensued following Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., that part of his empire which included Israel changed hands at least five times in just over twenty years. The post-Alexander Hellenic Seleucid Kingdom ruled Babylonia and Syria; and the Hellenic Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt. In 198 B.C. the armies of the Seleucid King Antiochus III (Antiochus the Great) ousted Ptolemy V from Judaea and Samaria. The Kingdom of Judaea became a client-kingdom of the Persian Seleucid Dynasty. It gained its independence briefly during the middle of the second century B.C. during the period of Hasmonean State A deterioration of relations between Hellenized Jews and religious Jews led the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes to impose decrees banning certain Jewish religious rites and traditions. Consequently, the orthodox Jews revolted under the leadership of the Hasmonean family, (also known as the Maccabees). This revolt eventually led to the formation of an independent Jewish kingdom, known as the Hasmonaean Dynasty, which lasted from 165 B.C. to 63 B.C. The Hasmonean Dynasty eventually disintegrated as a result of civil war between the sons of Salome Alexandra, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Following the end of Rome’s Third Mithridatic war in 63 B.C. and the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus, general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) found himself embroiled in this succession struggle. Ultimately Pompey put Hyrcanus in charge of the kingdom as prince and high priest. Judaea and Galilee became client kingdoms of Rome, which meant that, although independent, they had a subservient position towards the Republic. After Julius Caesar’s defeat of Pompey at the conclusion of Rome’s Civil War, Hyrcanus was succeeded by his courtier Antipater. Both Caesar and Antipater were killed in 44 B.C., and Herod (Antipater's son) was appointed as Governor (Tetrarch) by Rome 41 B.C. He became the outright ruler (Basileus) of Judaea in 37 B.C. and was later known as King Herod the Great. During his reign the great port of Caesarea Maritima was built. He died in 4 B.C., and Judaea became part of a larger Roman province, also called Judaea, annexed to the Roman province of Syria. Between then and the outbreak of the first Judaean Revolt in 66 A.D., a series of fourteen Procurators (Governors) ruled over Judaea from the magnificent harbor city built by Herod I at Caesarea. The first of these governors imposed a census of Jews so as to levy heavy taxes. Many of the later Governors of Judaea were increasingly and especially cruel, including Pontius Pilate, Antonius Felix, Albinus, and the last (before the revolt), Gessius Florus. The final insult was when in 66 A.D. Gessius Florus demanded that Jerusalem's Temple pay him a large amount of money for his own personal use. In protest the Jews quit making daily sacrifices to the reigning Roman Emperor (Nero), and the insult amounted to a declaration of war. Several different factions of Jews were able to band together long enough to rout the Roman garrisons stationed in and around Jerusalem. In response, the Romans massacred innocent Jews elsewhere throughout the Empire. In Ceasarea 20,000 Jews were put to death in the space of an hour. In Damascus, Syria, the Roman garrison there executed 10,000 Jews. Rome's 12th Legion was dispatched from Syria to put down the revolt, but the Jewish rebels were able to repel these troops. Roman Emperor Nero then dispatched his greatest general against the Jewish rebels, Vespasian, leader of Rome's armies to victories in Britain and Germany, and gave him command of some of Rome's most elite forces. As recounted by the great historian Josephus, Vespasian first encircled the Jewish forces around Galilee, which fell within a few months. By the middle of 68 A.D., Vespasian's troops had crushed the revolt throughout all of Palestine, with the exception of Jerusalem and the zealot fortress of Massada. Vespasian was forced to return to Rome upon the death of Nero, and the resulting civil wars which rocked Italy. Vespasian was declared Emperor by his troops, as well as the troops in Alexandria and in the Danube region. Fighting his way into Rome, Vespasian vanquished the army of his rival Lucius Vitellius, and within a year he victoriously claimed his throne in Rome. Upon his arrival in Rome, Vespasian dispatched his son in his stead to finish off the Jewish rebels. The city of Jerusalem was sacked and the Temple destroyed. An estimated 1,100,000 Jews died in the war, and the golden Menorah and the other holy implements of the temple were taken to Rome as booty and eventually lost to history. Some historians believe that the mountain fortress of Massada, near the Dead Sea, held off the Roman Legions for another three years. The era was of enormous consequence not only for those of the Jewish faith, but for all of Christianity, and the coinage leading up to the Revolt as well as the coinage struck by the rebels during the revolt are of tremendous significance to collectors. However from this time forward, notwithstanding a second revolt against Rome from 132 to 135 A.D., Israel was either a possession of the Roman, Byzantine, or Arab Muslim Empire up through the twentieth century when an independent Israel was again born. Domestic shipping is $7.99. Domestic rates include USPS Delivery Confirmation (you might be able to update the status of your shipment on-line at the USPS Web Site). Canadian shipments are $8.49 for Air Mail; International shipments are $12.99 for Air Mail (and generally are NOT tracked; trackable shipments are EXTRA). I can add most other items I sell to the shipment for only $0.99 each. Your purchase will ordinarily be shipped within 48 hours of payment. We package as well as anyone in the business, with lots of protective padding and containers. Insurance is available for both domestic and international shipments ($8 for domestic shipments; $18 for international shipments; ONLY required when PayPal is used – you may deduct this amount if you prefer an uninsured shipment AND you pay by check or money order or EU transfer). We do NOT recommend uninsured shipments, and expressly disclaim any responsibility for the loss of an uninsured shipment. Unfortunately the contents of parcels are easily “lost” or misdelivered by postal employees – even in the USA. If you intend to pay via PayPal, please be aware that PayPal Protection Policies REQUIRE insured, trackable shipments. If you do NOT want an insured shipment, send us a check or money order or EU transfer and deduct the invoiced insurance premium. We do offer U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, Registered Mail, and Express Mail for both international and domestic shipments, as well United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed-Ex). Please ask for a rate quotation. I prefer your personal check or money order over any other form of payment – and I will ship immediately upon receipt of your check (no “holds”). If upon receipt of the item you are disappointed for any reason whatever, I offer a no questions asked return policy. Send it back, I will give you a complete refund of the purchase price. Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years. However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers. Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology. After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well. Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on Ebay (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world – but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe. I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe. In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology. I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with. Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry. My wife also is an active participant in the "business" of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia. I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me. There is a $2 fee for mailing under separate cover. Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail. If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail. But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly - even if I am absent. And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email. Please see our "ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE." Place a Bid!