583



▶ illumination

introduction
Before the advent of electricity, people had to fi nd ways to il-
luminate their homes at night. Th ey also needed to light work-
spaces and caves and cellars where they stored food and other
goods and to illumine their paths if they traveled at night.
Th e technologies for providing illumination in the ancient
world were remarkably similar from culture to culture. Fire,
of course, was the source of artifi cial light. Among the most
ancient peoples, bonfi res provided light around which the
community gathered, thus aff ording people an early form of
social gathering where the events of the day could be discussed,
stories and legends could be told, and successful hunts could be
celebrated. But people needed more portable sources of light as
well as sources of light that were relatively safe and controllable
for use in their homes. Th is concern with safety, especially in
crowded and poorly built tenements in ancient cities, led to the
development of the couvre-feu, a cover for fi res at night. Th e
couvre-feu is the source of the modern word curfew.
Th roughout the world, the oil lamp was the most com-
mon source of artifi cial light. Th ese lamps were typically
made of stone, clay pottery, or metal. For fuel, the earliest
lamps relied on bark, wood shavings, and the like, but the
preferred fuels in later lamps were oils derived either from
animal fats or from plants. Typically, a wick was fashioned
to soak up the oil, which then burned faster than the wick.
To make such lamps less smoky, salt was added to the oil,
which also had the advantage of causing the fl ame to burn
more brightly. In addition to oil lamps, ancient people relied
on torches, tapers, rushlights, and other forms of portable

lighting. Th e ancient Chinese were the fi rst to mine coal for

burning, and they even developed natural gas wells. Both of

these fuels provided light.

Ancient lighting served a variety of purposes other than

just to add illumination in homes and work spaces. Th e an-

cient Romans, for example, developed lighthouses along

coastal regions, using mirrors to project light that provided

guidance to ships at sea. Ancient military organizations also

used light to send signals in stages over long distances. Cities

in ancient China used lamps as streetlights.

Among many ancient peoples, illumination from the

sun had religious meaning. Th e sun, as the source of warmth,

light, and the growth of plants and crops, was oft en worshiped

as a god. Most ancient religious texts highlight the separation

of the light from the dark in stories about Creation, and light

and fi re played an important role in their mythologies. Th e

story of how Prometheus stole fi re from the gods is a good

example. Accordingly, fi re and light were central to religious

rituals throughout the ancient world, and fi res were oft en

kept lit in honor of the gods.

Fire and illumination even played a role in ancient forms

of entertainment. Ancient China and Japan developed magic

lanterns and used light to form puppet shows by casting shad-

ows that created the illusion of motion. In eff ect, the ancient

Chinese and Japanese produced the world’s fi rst cinema.

AFRICA

BY KIRK H. BEETZ

For much of ancient Africa, light had both practical and re-

ligious purposes. Practical purposes included being able to

see in the dark as well as marking the edges of a path. For

I