Late Byzantine - Early Islamic hand carved stone triple nozzle oil lamp – circa 1000 AD; Archaic triple nozzle terracotta oil lamp, circa 1000 AD; History of the oil lamp. There is a transitional period from Byzantine to Islamic lamps. Lamps of this transitional period changed from being decorated with crosses, animals, human likenesses, birds, fish, etc., to being decorated with plain linear, geometric, and raised dot patterns. The early Islamic lamps are a continuation of Byzantine lamps. Decorations were initially a stylized form of bird, grain, tree, plant or flower. Then they became entirely geometric or linear with raised dots. Patterns in Islamic artifacts normally take one of three different forms: vegetable, or curving vines, often called arabesques; calligraphic verses, usually from the Quran; and geometric shapes. Instead of representing something specific, as a symbol would in Western art, patterns in Islamic architecture are meant to represent abstract concepts related to Islam and encourage people to think about the impermanence of the physical world and the unity and nature of God. Age: 1000 years old; Length: 6 inches = 15 cm; Height: 2.25 inches = 5.5 cm; Width: 2.7 inches = 6.9 cm Weight: 566 g = 1 lb. 4 oz. Provenance: Purchased from private collection in Ohio, USA. Letter from the Seller: “Yes, all three came from the same collection. My grandparents’ estate. They were avid collectors and world travelers. I wish I could tell you more. I am not an expert and I am only guessing based on what my grandfather used to call them (whale fat) At one point he had them all cataloged (hence the #s on the bottom). I do not have any of his records about the lamps. They had hundreds. I am sorry that this is all the info I can provide. I wish I had more details. I do know that at the estate sale they were asking far more for the two currently for sale than the one you purchased.” TECHNOLOGY Ancient Lamps The earliest use of stone lamps seems to have arisen approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. Ancient stone lamps have been discovered in the ancient caves at Lascaux and seemed to have been used to illuminate the cave walls for the extensive cave paintings. These early lamps were carved out of indigenous stone and used animal fats for fuel. A small cavity held the oil and the lamp was initially wickless. But by 8,000 B.C. plant-based oils started to appear particularly olive oil. Olives began to be cultivated in the Middle East where they later spread throughout the Mediterranean region. It proved to be a good flame source because it was easy and inexpensive to manufacture and produced a fair amount of light. In the northern climates where the olives couldn’t grow animal-based fats remained popular.