The Flame that Refused to Be Extinguished

March 11, 2025

by: Zoë McHenry, BFP Writer

The Year is AD 135…

Jerusalem lies under the iron grip of the infamous Roman Emperor Hadrian. As the age-old Bible stories recount, the Romans ruled the Promised Land with ruthless cruelty, seeking to extinguish the Jewish light from their Empire. Yet a remarkable archaeological discovery has proven that Jewish faith endured despite the oppression.

At an excavation site near the Mount of Olives, archaeologists unearthed a perfectly preserved clay lamp, adorned with sacred Jewish symbols: the Temple menorah (seven-branched candelabra), an incense shovel and a lulav (date palm branch used at Sukkot, the Feast of Booths). The small piece of sculpted clay stands as powerful proof that from among the long list of oppressors who sought to erase Jewish identity, Hadrian, too, failed.

The Discovery

Discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the ancient oil lamp captured the attention of historians, archaeologists and the public alike. Benjamin Storchan, a research archaeologist with the IAA, emphasized the lamp’s rarity not only for its perfect condition but for its engraved menorah decoration.

“The Temple menorah became a Jewish symbol during the Second Temple period,” he explained. The menorah stood in the Holy Place of the Temple, its seven branches alight as a symbol of God’s presence. Though the Romans destroyed the Temple in AD 70, the menorah has persisted in Jewish memory, becoming “an enduring icon in the Jewish collective memory, both within Israel and in the Diaspora [the Jewish population outside Israel].”

Storchan further elaborated on the craftsmanship: “It is evident that the lamp maker dedicated a great deal of time and effort to its decoration. The lamp was made using delicately and intricately carved limestone molds shaped with drills and chisels. The molds, crafted in two parts—upper and lower—allowed the potter to press clay into the forms, combine them and then fire the vessel. This method enabled the creation of refined designs and intricate decorations.”

The lamp’s style belongs to the “Beit Nattif” type, named after a production workshop near Beit Shemesh, 18 miles (30 km.) west of Jerusalem, identified in the 1930s. While these lamps were commonly used in everyday life, the inclusion of sacred Jewish symbols points to the Jews of Jerusalem acting to preserve their identity—defiantly.

The Bar Kokhba Revolt: Proof of Persistence

The lamp’s “defiance” dates back to the tyrannical rule of Hadrian and the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt (AD 132–135).

Jerusalem’s identity in that day was not Jewish. It was a city filled with a pagan hubbub and renamed Aelia Capitolina. In addition to the many shrines to their plethora of gods and goddesses already present, the ruling Romans had erected a massive temple to Jupiter Capitolinus on top of the ruins of the Second Temple. To make matters worse, according to British historian E. Mary Smallwood, Hadrian reportedly called for a prohibition on circumcision, a key Jewish rite.

Enraged, the Jewish people, led by Simon Bar Kokhba, rose up in rebellion in AD 132. From their hideouts in the Judean hills, the northern Negev and the desert, the rebels waged war against the Romans. Bar Kokhba’s tactics were effective enough to call for Roman reinforcements, and at least 10 legions were sent to Judea to crush the revolt.

The rebellion eventually ended in tragedy when the Jews lost their final stronghold at Betar. According to Britannica.com, over 580,000 Jews died in the conflict, not including those who perished from hunger and disease. After the revolt, the Roman legions went on to eliminate the remaining Jewish villages to prevent any further uprisings. And thus, Judea’s transition from a client kingdom of Rome to a province ruled directly by Rome was sealed.

In further punishment, Hadrian sought to eradicate Jewish identity. The practice and teachings of Judaism were banned, and synagogues were destroyed and replaced with more Roman temples and shrines. The remnant of Jews from Jerusalem were sold into slavery or exiled from the city. And for the rest of Hadrian’s reign, the light of the Jewish faith seemed to fade.

Yet despite the relentless slaughter and oppression, there must have been some Jews who remained in order to craft this lamp. “This finding is particularly surprising, since, we have very little evidence of the existence of a Jewish settlement in and around Jerusalem from this period (third to fifth centuries AD),” Michael Chernin, excavation director on behalf of the IAA, explained.

Regardless, someone had to make the lamp, and someone most definitely lit it in Roman–ruled Jerusalem.

A Light Burning for Centuries

Sadly, this story is not unique to Hadrian’s time. Long before the Roman emperor sought to crush Jewish identity, a similar villain ruled: the Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–64 BC). Antiochus, too, banned the practice of Judaism, desecrated the Second Temple and forced Jews to worship Greek gods. Like the Jews of the Bar Kokhba revolt, a small group known as the Maccabees rose against him, waging a guerrilla war. Instead of the defeat of AD 132, this time they won, reclaiming Jerusalem.

Their first act of victory was to rededicate the Temple and relight the extinguished menorah (the symbol etched on the clay lamp unearthed near Jerusalem), which God had ordained to burn perpetually. With only enough oil for one day, the menorah burned for eight days—just enough time to produce another batch of oil. This miraculous triumph has been commemorated for generations on Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication).

In honor of Hanukkah, the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for Archaeology put the ancient clay lamp on public display during the holiday, recalling a history of Jewish resistance against persecution.

The Flame that Endures

Though empires have risen and fallen, and centuries of oppression have sought to dim the flame, the light of Israel has never been extinguished. From the valor of the Maccabees who rekindled the menorah’s flame to the courageous Jews who, under Hadrian’s tyranny, preserved their identity, the story of resilience continues. Today, in the modern State of Israel, the flame burns brighter than ever. This ancient clay lamp is proof! No force—whether ancient or modern—can snuff out the light of the Jewish people.

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