Image Details
Zev Radovan, courtesy of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums
In Iron Age II (1000–587 B.C.), after Solomon’s reign ended in 920 B.C., the kingdom divided between Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Lamp design reflected this split by the development of a distinct southern form with a high disc base (see photograph). “Northern” lamps, with a flat base, continued to be very similar to the earlier Iron I lamps such as this one and were the exclusive lamp north of Megiddo. Northern lamp forms were also used side by side with the southern forms in Judah.