Description of the animation: a oil lamp flashes into focus, red background, animation made by Kathy, Terms of Use
Did You Know? An oil lamp is an object used to produce light continuously for a
period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps
began thousands of years ago and is continued to this day, although not
commonly anymore.
It is very difficult to say when and where the first oil lamp was
used. This is partly because it is difficult to draw a line detailing
when the primitive forms of creating a continuous source of light from
fire can be termed a lamp. The first lamps were made of naturally
occurring objects, coconuts, sea shells, egg shells and hollow stones.
Some believe that the first proper lamps were carved from stones. Curved
stone lamps were found in places dated to the 10th millennium BC. (Mesolithic, Middle Stone Age Period, circa 10,300 - 8000 BC) The oldest stone-oil lamp was found in Lascaux in 1940 in a cave that was inhabited 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.
Some archaeologists claim that the first shell-lamps were in
existence more than 6,000 years ago. (Neolithic, Later Stone Age, c.
8500 - 4500 BC). They believe that the alabaster shell-shaped lamps dug
up in Sumerian sites dating 2,600 BC were imitations of real shell-lamps
that were used for a long time. (Early Bronze, Canaanite / Bronze I-IV,
c. 3300 - 2000 BC) It is generally agreed that the evolution of handmade lamps moved
from bowl-shaped to saucer-shaped, then from saucer with a nozzle, to a
closed bowl with a spout.
"Ancient cities such as Rome and Antioch had their own street lighting
thousands
of years ago; the Chinese even harnessed natural gas."
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