Creating Light on Arda

around 5th or 6th centuries AD and consist of a pointed egg shaped closed body with a spout and a larger hole to pour in oil.
Now that I’ve given a short history of oil lamps and their various designs, I’ll talk about the chemistry behind the lamp bodies. Lamp bodies are commonly made of clay, which is a mixture of many aluminosilicate mineral including micas, biotite, kyanite, feldspars (the most abundant of the aluminosilicates), and microcline, to name a few. Clay as a mineral is defined in a chemical formula, which disregards all mineral, oxide, etc. impurities, as Al₂O₃.2SiO₂.2H₂O or Al_2,Si₂O₅(OH)₄. This form of “pure clay” is also known as Kaolinite. All clays have concentrations of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. The equation describing the creation of clay from years and years of dissolving of aluminosilicates by water in the earth is:

CREATING LIGHT ON ARDA How to make oil lamps and paraffin candles
Crude Oil Lamps The “foots oil” and other lube oils can be used directly in oil lamps to create light. As far back as 3,500 BC, humans have put oil in naturally cupped containers like stones and seashells. During the 7th and 8th centuries BC, people began to make wheel-thrown saucers and eventually with enclosed bodies and wicks made of flax that are submerged in the oil and either draped on the saucer’s rim or held in place by a small spout on the saucer. Around the 4th century, glazes began to be used to slow oil seepage into the clay body of the lamp. Also at this time, spouts and handles became common hand attached additions to a wheel thrown pottery oil-holding bowl. During the Hellenistic Age, people started casting moulds in stone, clay, and plaster, abandoning entirely the wheel in making the lamp bodies. Stone moulds must be meticulously carved. Clay and plaster moulds could be carved, but they could also be formed from covering an archetype. Moulds allowed more ornate (and also name-brand) lamps to be made. Regular lamps look something like a flattened teapot with a long handle with a wick sticking out through the spout. Candlestick lamps appeared
	around 5th or 6th centuries AD and consist of a pointed egg shaped closed body with a spout and a larger hole to pour in oil. Now that I’ve given a short history of oil lamps and their various designs, I’ll talk about the chemistry behind the lamp bodies. Lamp bodies are commonly made of clay, which is a mixture of many aluminosilicate mineral including micas, biotite, kyanite, feldspars (the most abundant of the aluminosilicates), and microcline, to name a few. Clay as a mineral is defined in a chemical formula, which disregards all mineral, oxide, etc. impurities, as Al₂O₃.2SiO₂.2H₂O or Al_2,Si₂O₅(OH)₄. This form of “pure clay” is also known as Kaolinite. All clays have concentrations of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. The equation describing the creation of clay from years and years of dissolving of aluminosilicates by water in the earth is:
	K₂OAl₂O₃6SiO_2(s)+H₂O_(l)Al₂O₃2SiO₂2H₂O_(s)+K₂O(SiO₂)_(aq)+ SiO_2(aq/s)
	That is, feldspar plus water yields a clay mineral plus a solution and either a solution or solid. This process happens when clay minerals accumulate at the bottom of bodies of water in layers. The layers compress the organic material and make it decay and react to make clay. When the body of water dries, the clay is dried into a soft stone which can be quarried, pulverized, and sold. Clay, when pulverized and mixed with water, is a plastic compound. In searching for clay, look in creeks and river beds. If the moist bottom dirt holds together when squeezed, it is usable as a clay substance. To clean it, spread out the clay on wooden boards to dry it in the sun and then break it by pounding it. BACK - HOME - NEXT