Tut Exhibit - King Tutankhamun Exhibit, Collection: Statues, Sculptures and Containers - Triple Lamp Carved From a Single Piece of Alabaster

The Tutankhamun Exhibit

Statues, Sculptures and Containers

Triple lamp carved from a single piece of alabaster

Triple Lamp Carved From a Single Piece of Alabaster

Standing on the floor of the chamber, in front of the doors of the shrine, was this triple lamp carved from a single piece of alabaster. It represents a lotus plant growing in a pond. At the head of each stem is a flower, the middlemost being fully open and those at the sides half-open. Beneath the half-open flowers are leaves, which appear to be floating on the surface of the water. The flowers held the vegetable oil in which the wicks were placed, either floating or kept upright by holders. The wicks were made of braided fibers of flax. Salt might have been put in the oil to reduce smoke.