Mosque lamp
Islamic architecture glass / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Fine mosque lamps are usually made of enamelled glass, often with gilding. They are oil lamps, usually with a large round body and a narrower neck that flares towards the top.[1] They were often made with internal containers to be filled with oil and a wick to produce light.[1] Some were also made in Islamic pottery, though this was much less efficient for actual lighting.
There was usually a foot so they could be placed on a surface, but they were normally hung by a circular metal frame and suspended by chains that went through a number of loops on the outside of the body. The circular frames continue to be used in many mosques today, but with plain or frosted glass lamps for electric lighting. These lamps were used to light mosques, and at times were used in rituals during Ramadan. In one such ritual, the flame of the lamp would be extinguished to signal to people that prayer was about to start.[2] In big mosques it was common to see thousands of lamps being used to illuminate the space.[3]
Oil lamps were introduced gradually into mosques and took time until they became common, which was around the end of the 7th century and the beginning of the 8th century.[4] They survive in considerable numbers from the Middle Ages, especially the 13th and 14th centuries, with Cairo in Egypt and Aleppo and Damascus in Syria being the most important centres of production.[5]
There were also smaller, usually plain, glass lamps, with a cup-like shape and a lip at the top. These were used in larger numbers in a frame with holders.