Light, Lamps, and Material Religion in Early Rabbinic Judaism

Abstract Recent scholarship on material religion has demonstrated how decentralizing texts, focusing on objects, and using material culture to shape our research inquiries enhances our understanding of religious traditions. This article seeks to initiate a conversation on material religion and ancient Judaism by applying methods from the former to archaeological finds from Roman-era Palestine and the numerous references to objects in late antique rabbinic texts. Focusing on ceramic oil lamps as a test case, I argue that attention to objects and how they were manufactured illuminates the influence of materiality on early rabbinic thought. Manufacturing was an important component of the Galilee’s material environment, which had a generative influence on its inhabitants. This paper shows how focusing on material culture and broad conceptualizations of materiality (including production, performance, and sensation) can enhance our understanding of late antique Judaism and rabbinic teachings that would later become central to Jewish tradition.