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As per the Chanukah story a small sealed jar of oil was found to light the Temple Menorah. Am I correct in assuming that the oil was olive oil? How long can unsealed jar/bottle of olive last in general?
What would have been the kinds of oil available for lighting purposes in those days? Obviously, olive oil, but were there other kinds of oil, that were less costly and maybe not edible, that would have been used for lighting? How about rendered animal fat, which has commonly been used for lighting through the ages?
MISHNA I.: What shall and what shall not be used for lighting (the Sabbath light)? The light shall not be made with (wicks of) cedar hast, raw flax, silk fibre, weeds growing upon the water, and ship-moss. 1 Nor shall pitch, wax, cotton-seed oil, oil of rejected heave-offerings, 2 fat from the tail of a sheep, and tallow be used.
Nahum the Modait says melted tallow maybe used for lighting; the schoolmen, however, prohibit melted and raw tallow alike.
MISHNA II.: The lamp used on a (biblical) feast-night shall not be fed with oil of rejected heave-offerings. R. Ishmael said: The Sabbath lamp shall not be fed with tar, out of honor for the Sabbath. The sages, however, allow all fatty substances for this purpose: poppy-seed oil, nut oil, fish oil, radish oil, wild-gourd oil, tar, and naphtha. R. Tarphin said: It shall be lighted with nothing but olive oil.
MISHNA III.: No substance that comes from a tree shall be used (as a wick) save flax. In like manner no substance that comes from a tree becomes defiled when serving as a tent (in which a dead body lies) save flax.
1) do you know if the passages you cite predate the miracle of the oil?
2) Is it a reasonable assumption that, given what appear to be disagreements on whether several oils/fats are acceptable, and yet olive oil appears accepted by all, that it's a reasonable assumption that as long as olive oil was available, they probably would have used olive oil?
1. the mishna predates Chanukah and discusses the regulations regarding the lighting of sabbath candles. The gemara's discussion then includes the Chanukah lights. The point is that there were various other things that could have been used to light lights back then (which answers "What would have been the kinds of oil available for lighting purposes in those days?").
2. The lamp in the temple was lit with olive oil as recorded in the bible (Ex. 27:20) -- "And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually." They were not allowed to use anything else.
1. the mishna predates Chanukah and discusses the regulations regarding the lighting of sabbath candles. The gemara's discussion then includes the Chanukah lights. The point is that there were various other things that could have been used to light lights back then (which answers "What would have been the kinds of oil available for lighting purposes in those days?").
2. The lamp in the temple was lit with olive oil as recorded in the bible (Ex. 27:20) -- "And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually." They were not allowed to use anything else.
Thanks for the quotations! How long would a sealed olive oil jar at that time period lasted? Also in general would olive oil be good for lighting purposes longer than for cooking purposes?
I can't answer to questions which border on chemistry. My assumption is that a full cruse with an airtight wax seal could survive for a while (years?) and I don't know if rancid oil (if it would even be allowed to be used for sacramental lighting) still burns.
I am sure that rancid oil would burn just fine; rancidity comes from the first stages of oxidation, but my guess is that by the time the oil is so rancid you would throw it out probably far less than 1% of the burnable hydrocarbons have oxidized.
Now whether rancid oil would be suitable for sacramental lighting is a question I'm not qualified to discuss. (Heck, I'm not even Jewish.)
1. the mishna predates Chanukah and discusses the regulations regarding the lighting of sabbath candles. The gemara's discussion then includes the Chanukah lights. The point is that there were various other things that could have been used to light lights back then (which answers "What would have been the kinds of oil available for lighting purposes in those days?").
2. The lamp in the temple was lit with olive oil as recorded in the bible (Ex. 27:20) -- "And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually." They were not allowed to use anything else.
Chanukah was already established as a holiday by the Sages in the second temple period. Therfore the holiday predates the Mishnah not vice versa since the Mishnah was a written in the 2nd century.
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