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This study traces the palm branch motif from its first appearance on local oil lamps until pottery oil lamps were no longer in daily use. The oil lamps are arranged in chronological order, from the Late Hellenistic to Crusader periods, marking their significance in each of these time frames. The palm branch became the lulav, the Jewish symbol par excellence; it was one of the Four Species used in the Jerusalem Temple and, after its destruction it was used in the synagogue, appearing only on the lamps produced in the “Darom” (Judaean Shephelah, where the Jews were exiled) from 70 to 135 CE and disappearing at the same time on Jewish coins, making way for the menorah. The lulav gained popularity on oil lamps produced mainly in the Diaspora much later, in the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, beside the menorah, and became part of the Jewish “identity card”, together with the shofar and maḥtah on mosaic pavements and tombstones in Rome. Since the palm branch replaced the lulav in several depictions, it may be asked whether the palm branch had a dual meaning. The palm branch was waved by Christians on Palm Sunday while chanting hymns similar to those of the Jews and was depicted on Christian lamps. The choice of the palm branch goes back to ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia, and Greece, where they stood for a wide range of human values. It is no wonder, then, that it was chosen to decorate oil lamps - an essential vessel in daily life and in religious ceremonies of the life cycle among almost all ethnic groups in the Holy Land.
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