This little juglet-oil filler from the Hellenistic Period
(330-37 B.C., when the Greeks occupied the Land after the
destruction of the First Temple) actually plays a huge role in
Jewish history... and modern life. According to legend, the
Hellenistic King Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the Temple,
rendering all the ritual oil impure and thus unfit for use. Upon
overcoming the Greek forces, the rebelling Jewish warriors known
as the Maccabees took possession of the Temple and sought to
reconsecrate it to the service of God, but they found only one
juglet- such as this one- whose oil had not been defiled.
A miracle occurred, however, and the oil in this one little
juglet, really only enough to last one day, burned for eight
days and nights... the time needed to make new, ritually pure
oil. This miracle is still celebrated annually and is known as
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights.
The original juglet on
which this one was modeled was discovered in a cave on Mt. Zion
in Jerusalem and is today part of the Antika Collection.
