Waves Oil lampHanukka lampRothschild miscellany

  • Issue: December 1993
  • Designer: I. Gabay
  • Stamp size: 40 x 25.7 mm
  • Plate no.: 204 - 206
  • Sheet of 15 stamps Tabs: 5
  • Printers: E. Lewin-Epstein Ltd.
  • Method of printing: Offset

Oil Lamp, Talmudic Period Reuben and Edith Hecht Museum, University of Haifa

The oil lamp was used to light both private houses and public buildings. The lamps were also placed in tombs, as memorial lights and to protect against the 'Evil Eye". In Israel olive oil was generally used as fuel, since it was the only oil which was acceptable under the laws of the Torah.

The lamp from the Talmudic Period, depicted on the stamp, is made of clay using a press mould. The lamp is decorated with a seven-branched menorah and a shovel. The menorah is decorated with squares each with a circle in the middle, a design which emphasises the parts or bulbs which make up the menorah.

The collection of lamps in the Reuben and Edith Hecht Museum gives visitors an understanding of the stages of development of the clay lamp in the Land of Israel and its place in the development of the lamp in Mediterranean countries. The collection demonstrates small-scale craftsmanship in both local and universal contexts, as it is expressed in clay lamps.

The Reuben and Edith Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa was inaugurated in 1984.

On display is a permanent archaeological exhibition based on the private collection of the late Dr. Reuben Hecht entitled "The People of Israel in Eretz Israel". The Museum provides teaching and research facilities for university students and faculty members.

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Hanukka Lamp, Eretz Israel 20th Century Carved Stone, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem

Israel Musem Collection No. 118 I 373 Measurements: Height 16.2 cm, Width; 37.5 cm, Depth: 20.6 cm.

The stamp shows a Hanukka Lamp, the work of a Yemenite artist who lived in Jerusalem at the beginning of this century. The Hanukka Lamp 6 carved from Jerusalem stone in the shape of a building with nine triangular pans for oil wicks: eight for the sacred lights and one for the "Shammash" - the extra light from which the Hanukka lights are kindled. The building, which has a crenellated roof, recalls architecture in the Yemen.

The artist was apparently influenced by the design of other Hanukka Lamps using architectural elements connected with the Holy Temple.

Hanukka is celebrated to commemorate the miraculous reconsecration ("Hanukka" in Hebrew for dedication) of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Maccabees in 165 BCE, following their victory over the armies of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

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The Rothschild Miscellany Northern Italy, 1470?

Vellum, handwritten, pen and ink, tempera and gold leaf; gift of James A. de Rothschild, London, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Coil, no. 180/51.

The Rothschild Miscellany is one of the finest Hebrew illuminated manuscripts. Almost every one of its 948 pages is richly decorated with colourful paintings and gold leaf.

The book which comprises about forty different compositions, includes biblical books, a prayer book for the whole year, halakhic books (Jewish law) and historical and scientific books.

The manuscript which belonged to the Rothschild family library in Paris, disappeared during the Second World War and reappeared after the war, when it was offered for sale in New York.

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Hanukka