The Enigmatic Role of the “Channel” along the “Nozzle” of Ancient Oil Lamps

This article addresses the old question regarding the role of the central “channel” that appears beneath the wick hole of oil lamps. The author maintains that it replaced the projecting nozzle of the earliest mold- or wheel-made lamp types and became common when the lamps lost the projection and assumed the pearand almond-shapes. The “channel” was felt to be missing when the lamp’s emphasis on the connection of light to a divine entity gained a major role, with the rise of Christianity. It first represented a torch and was later turned into an apse, vault, niche or miḥrab , when the wick hole—the source of the light—was integrated beneath the vault and became a central pattern. The pear- or almondshaped forepart of the oil lamp should no longer be referred as a nozzle

Arc lamp · Connection (principal bundle) · Light source · Projection (relational algebra) · Torch · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Historical Astronomy and Related Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies