A perfectly preserved oil lamp from the Hasmonean era was discovered in 2020 during excavations of the Pilgrimage Road in Jerusalem’s City of David, just outside the Old City walls.

The Pilgrimage Road is the monumental thoroughfare through which pilgrims ascended to the Temple Mount in the Second Temple period (516 BCE to 70 CE).

The clay oil lamp is decorated with geometric patterns including a branch and leaves on the spout. Israel Antiquities Authority archeologists say it is typical of the first century BCE, in the final years of Hasmonean rule.

Excavation Director Ari Levy said such lamps were used for lighting buildings and streets, and in Shabbat and Hanukkah candle-lighting rituals.