Skeleton of a salt miner from Sassanid Iran Mining was a dangerous job. So most people in the ancient world didn't want to do it. This is the skeleton of a young salt miner. Very likely the miner was enslaved, so he didn't have any choice about working in the salt mine. He [...]
An Islamic oil lamp like Aladdin's lamp, from the University of Michigan Scheherazade tells Aladdin's story This is one of the stories Scheherazade told the king. Scheherazade's Arabian Nights Sinbad the Sailor More Arabic literature All our Islamic Empire articles Aladdin meets a man Even though he was only a boy, Aladdin got [...]
Flowers and Diwali lamps Diwali is a Sanskrit word originally meaning "a row of lights" - "dipa" is the Sanskrit word for "light". Diwali is an Indian harvest festival celebrating the end of the hard work of harvesting food. People celebrate that now there is plenty of food to last through the winter. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains all celebrated Diwali [...]
A homemade oil lamp You can make your own oil lamp at home very easily. Buy any ordinary mushroom for eating. Break off the mushroom's stem and let it dry for a couple of days in any dry, warm place like a windowsill or a shelf. Take a very small clay bowl (like [...]
