8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The Half of the Rare Oil Lamp Found in Jerusalem May be in Budapest

We had recently reported on a grotesque lamp found in Jerusalem. The other half of the oil lamp, which is in the shape of a half-face, may have been found.

A 2,000-year-old oil lamp shaped like half of a  grotesque face discovered in Jerusalem last week seems to have a mate, which was discovered nine years ago in Budapest.

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced last week that the lamp, dated to date from the late first or early second centuries CE, was the first of its kind discovered in Israel and one of only a few worldwide.

According to Jerusalem’s City of David archeological site, after the announcement of the find, Hungarian archeologist Dr. Gabor Lassanyi reached out to say that he may be in possession of the other half, which was uncovered during a 2012 excavation in Budapest.

“In an excavation, we conducted at Aquincum (modern-day Budapest), we found a remarkably rare object: at the bottom of the building, we discovered a bronze half-lamp depicting the right half of a face shaped like a Roman theater mask,” Lassanyi wrote to Ari Levy, the head of the Jerusalem excavation.

A bronze oil lamp discovered in Budapest

A bronze oil lamp discovered in Budapest in 2012 matched one found in Jerusalem’s City of David in May 2021. (Ágnes Bakos/Bence Tihanyi)

According to Lassanyi, “Only a few known creations that resemble this exist from this time period, and they sit in museums and throughout private collections in the world, yet none of them are like these two halves.  It is very difficult to craft in such an accurate way, and therefore, it is likely that the two halves of the lamps were created in the same artisan house and may even have served as a pair to one complete piece.”

The lamp found in Jerusalem is on the left-hand side of a face, while the Budapest lamp is on the right-hand side.

Lassanyi and Levy discovered that the two lamps’ halves were identical in size when they first examined them. Furthermore, the lamp discovered in Hungary has a depressed connecting slot, while the lamp discovered in Israel has a protruding ridge, suggesting that they may be related.

According to a statement from the City of David, Israeli archeologists are currently exploring different options to determine if the two lamps are actually a similar pair, including the prospect of printing a three-dimensional model of the lamp in Israel and sending it to Hungary for researchers to try to link the two halves.

Source: The Times of Israel

Related Articles

Medieval Mummy Seized in Niğde, Türkiye, Amidst Smuggling Crackdown

12 March 2025

12 March 2025

Authorities in Türkiye have detained six individuals in the Bor district of Niğde, who were allegedly attempting to sell an...

Archaeologists found a noble woman buried beside her ‘husband’ 1,000 years ago with the top of her face hollowed out

4 November 2023

4 November 2023

Archaeologists unearthed the 1,000-year-old remains of a woman with her face and head hollowed out buried next to her husband...

An Ancient Building and Gold Artifacts Found in the Ancient Greek City of Rypes in Achaea

10 December 2024

10 December 2024

Recent excavations on the Trapezá plateau, eight kilometers southwest of the city of Aigio in the Peloponnese, have uncovered an...

Meaning of Agora Gate Found in Turkey’s Ancient City of Aizanoi

8 June 2021

8 June 2021

The good news continues to come from the ancient city of Aizanoi, located in Çavdarhisar district, 50 km from Kütahya....

The Nightmare of the Roman Soldiers “Carnyx”

9 July 2023

9 July 2023

The Carnyx was a brass musical instrument used as a psychological weapon of war by the ancient Celts between 300...

The exciting discovery of a 4000-year-old stone box grave in western Norway

10 November 2023

10 November 2023

Archaeologists report an extremely important 4,000-year-old stone box grave has been unearthed in Western Norway, describing it as the most...

2,300-Year-Old Gold Ring Reveals Jerusalem’s Hidden Hellenistic Rituals

27 May 2025

27 May 2025

A remarkable gold ring recently uncovered in Jerusalem is offering fresh insight into Hellenistic-era rituals, ancient jewelry traditions, and the...

2,000-Year-Old Iron Age and Roman Treasures Found in Wales Could Point to an Unknown Roman Settlement

12 May 2023

12 May 2023

A metal detectorist found a pile of exceptionally preserved Roman and Iron Age objects buried 2,000 years ago in a...

Israeli Archaeologists discover two shipwrecks filled with treasure

22 December 2021

22 December 2021

Israeli archaeologists have been discovered ancient artifacts and treasures amid the wrecks of two ships on the seafloor off the...

Teacher unearthed stone with ancient ogham writing from Ireland in Coventry garden

9 May 2024

9 May 2024

A geography teacher, Graham Senior, stumbled across a rock with mysterious incisions while tidying his overgrown garden in Coventry, England. ...

Iconic 2,500-Year-Old Coțofenești Helmet and Dacian Treasures Stolen from Dutch Museum

26 January 2025

26 January 2025

A heist at the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands, has resulted in the theft of several invaluable artifacts from the...

A rural necropolis from Late Antiquity discovered in northeastern France

5 November 2022

5 November 2022

Inrap archaeologists have unearthed a small rural necropolis from the late 5th century (Late Antiquity) at Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes in northeastern France....

For the first time in Turkish history, a gold belt buckle depicted the face of a Göktürk Khagan found

19 December 2023

19 December 2023

A social complex (Külliye) and new artifacts from the Western Gokturk period were discovered in Kazakhstan. Among these items, a...

1st Century BCE Medusa Mask Mold Discovered in Ancient Finziade, Sicily

24 January 2025

24 January 2025

At the Finziade archaeological site in the Sicilian town of Licata, archaeologists have discovered a mask mold that could represent...

Illegal digs reveal rare Roman-era mass grave in Turkey

28 July 2022

28 July 2022

A total of 27 skeletons were found in a burial pit carved into the rocks in Adıyaman province, an important...