Beit Nattif Lamps and Moulds and their Implications Regarding Lamp Production in Eretz-Israel during the Late Roman Period (original) (raw)

2019, Unpublished master's thesis, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

The ancient oil lamps from the Holy Land have long been a popular area of study for archaeologists, art historians and other researchers. Most archaeological studies have aimed at building chronological lamp typologies showing morphological development over time. The early stages of oil lamp morphology and chronology are beyond the scope of this research. The most significant change in the oil lamp making process occurred with the introduction of moulds, which began in Greece during the late 3 rd century BCE, and was rapidly adopted in the Syria-Palaestina region. Mould-made lamps were more efficient to produce and guaranteed ancient craftsmen a high degree of product standardization. The introduction of moulds in oil lamp production denotes an unspoken shift in the job description of the lamp maker working on a potter's wheel to a mould carver. Moulds for the production of lamps could have been made from a wide variety of raw materials. In theory, all possible materials should be durable, yet easily carved. The most common material for lamp mould production in the ancient world was plaster or clay however, limestone was most frequently used for lamp moulds in the Syria-Palaestina region during the Late Roman period (3 rd-4 th centuries CE). Oil lamp production during the Late Roman period in Syria-Palaestina was dominated by a number of regional workshops. While many of these workshops remain elusive, the Beit Nattif lamp is known from the discovery of a production site in the village of Beit Nattif, located in the Judean Shephelah. The excavations at the Beit Nattif workshop, which operated during the Late Roman and early Byzantine periods, produced a large assemblage of lamps, figurines, and lamp moulds discarded into two abandoned hewn cisterns. Since their initial characterization, study of Beit Nattif lamps has largely focused on their decorative motifs and iconography. Based on their unique style, some have concluded that the Beit Nattif lamps were all made in a single workshop. This theory is now challenged with the discovery of an additional lamp workshop at Kh. Shumeila, located north of Beit Nattif, which produced Beit Nattif lamps. Initial archaeological excavations at the site were conducted during 1997-1998 and later expanded in 2014. The excavations at Kh. Shumeila uncovered remains of a large structure divided into separate domestic and industrial areas. The industrial area of the structure functioned as a lamp workshop typified by a large collection of lamps and lamp moulds. Another lamp mould was found during 10