What Were the Lamps of the Wise and Foolish Maidens Made of?
When lamps had come into general favor, better attention was given to their form and construction. The first seem to have been made of baked clay, moulded by hand into elongated vessels to contain the oil, and provided at one end with a lip to admit the wick. These are the lamps which artists have pictured in the hands of the wise and foolish virgins, though in the opinion of some scholars they were merely rods of porcelain and iron, covered with cloth and steeped in oil. Another early type, which was less common, presents a simple disc with an aperture in the centre for the oil, and a hole for the wick, at one or both of the sides.
Under the Empire, when the light of the lamp had become general, the better ones were made of bronze, ornamented with heads, animals, and other decorations, attached to the handles, while as life in Rome partook more of luxury and extravagance, gold, silver, or Corinthian brass were the materials, the designs being more elaborate and complicated. Many and beautiful examples of these ancient lamps have been unearthed from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii.