02 | Oil lamp fragment

CLEO: What are you doing? Get your wings off my eyes! [flapping]

AHMOSE: Ooh, it’s dark, isn’t it?

You can’t see anything! CLEO: Meow! What are you talking about?

AHMOSE: Maybe we could light …

A lamp?

CLEO: Oh, you’re talking about this oil lamp fragment, aren’t you?

AHMOSE: Yes. CLEO: I have feathers in my mouth!

[coughs]

AHMOSE: Sorry! CLEO: Hmm, this lamp doesn’t really look like much.

AHMOSE: Wait, there’s more to this than you think.

CLEO: Really?

AHMOSE: Yes. Have a close look.

Closer. Closer. [bump]

Not that close. CLEO: Me-ow!

AHMOSE: So this is a little piece of an oil lamp.

They didn’t have electricity, so they used to burn oil in lamps

to create a little fire that gave them light at night-time.

Can you see that image on it?

CLEO: It looks like someone is fishing! AHMOSE: You’re right.

CLEO: Well, I’m a cat. I’m a big fan of fish.

AHMOSE: I’m more into worms. CLEO: But the lamp shows fishing, not worming.

AHMOSE: Ancient Egyptians loved fish. They ate them, made statues of them,

and even sometimes mummified them.

CLEO: Did someone carve that picture into the lamp?

AHMOSE: It’s very lifelike, unlike some of the other paintings

and art in this exhibition, which look a bit more like a cartoon.

It also looks like it was made with a mould.

But that means there were probably a lot of lamps, just like this one, around.

That tells us that this object was not particularly precious, but was more practical,

and maybe fishing was a common or important activity in the area.

CLEO: Well, the fish I eat comes from a can.

AHMOSE: Probably not originally. CLEO: I guess.

AHMOSE: What else can you notice? CLEO: About fish?

AHMOSE: About the lamp! CLEO: Oh, um, there’s a hole in it.

With lots of black stuff around it. Is that from the lamp flame?

AHMOSE: Absolutely! The hole is for the wick, like the wick of a candle.

That’s what they would light.

The burning oil creates black smoke and soot which collects around the hole.

That soot is from a fire that burned at least 2,000 years ago.

CLEO: It’s so amazing to think about people doing ordinary things like using a lamp so long ago.

Ancient Egyptian people really weren’t that different to us, were they?

AHMOSE: Indeed. In fact, in the ancient village where archaeologists found this lamp,

they also found lots of other everyday things like tools and cooking pots.

CLEO: We still use pots too!

Next time I cook dinner or turn on a lamp, I’m going to think of my ancient Egyptian cat ancestors.

AHMOSE: Great idea! Shall we see what’s next?

CLEO: Meow! Another great idea! Let’s go!

[flapping]