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The Ancient Mystery of the Ever Burning LampsFire is only produced when certain materials – a combustible material, an oxidiser, and a source of heat, are present in the right proportions. The

absence of one or more of these elements would extinguish a ame. It is believed, however, that there are lamps whose ames have continued

burning for an exceptional amount of time without human intervention. This phenomenon, which has not been scientically explained, is indeed a

very intriguing one. hat are these so!called ever burning lamps" #o they really exist"

$ver burning lamps have been recorded by writers from various parts of the world at di%erent points of time. In the ancient world, for instance, the

writer &lutarch mentions in his wor' (#e #efectu )raculorum* that a lamp that burned over the door of the temple of +upiter mmon in $gypt.

ccording to &lutarch, the priests of the temple claimed that the lamp stood in the open air, and neither wind nor rain put it out. -imilar accounts

are given for the altar of the Temple of pollo arneus, at yrene, and the great Temple of derbain, in rmenia.

The Cyrene Temple of Apollo was said to once have an ever-burning lamp. Credit:  megalithic.co.uk 

nother lassical author, &ausanias wrote about a gold lamp in the temple of /inerva &olias in thens. This lamp, which was built by the scholar

allimachus, was said to have been able to maintain a ame steadily for a year without needing refuelling or having its wic' trimmed. It was also

believed that 0uma &ompilius, the legendary second 'ing of 1ome, was able to communicate directly with the gods, and that he created a light that

burned perpetually in a temple he had dedicated to an elemental being. -ome have even postulated that 0uma had 'nowledge of electricity, and

that his successor, Tullus 2ostilius, was 'illed when his attempt to draw electricity from lightning went wrong.

http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=22287http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=22287http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=22287

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Pausanias wrote about a gold lamp in the temple of Minerva Polias. Picture: The Erechtheion the west end of the Temple of Minerva Polias and the

Pandrosium on the Acropolis Athens by !ames "tuart #$%&s-'&s. Credit: grey pony / fickr 

$ver burning lamps have also been described during the 3ate nti4ue and /edieval periods. It is said that during the reign of the 5y6antine emperor

 +ustinian, an ever burning lamp was found by soldiers at either $dessa or ntioch. ccording to the story, the lamp was discovered in a niche over

the city gate, and the inscriptions suggest that the lamp has been burning for 788 years.

-t. ugustine mentions an ever burning lamp in an $gyptian temple dedicated to 9enus, and suggests that it was the wor' of the #evil. #uring the

reign of 2enry 9III :or the $arly /edieval period, according to another source;, an ever burning lamp was reported to have been found in $ngland. s

2enry separated from the 1oman atholic hurch, and established the hurch of $ngland, he demanded the destruction of atholic churches and

communities should they refuse to be incorporated into his new church. It seems that even the dead were not spared, as the tomb of a wealthy man

who died around the

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Emperor Constantius ( Chlorus ) Wikimedia Commons *.

In India, the ancient 2indu temple of +wala +i, located in the lower 2imalayan town of +awalamu'hi in 2imachal &radesh, has a constantly burning blue

ame that comes from the roc's in various places within the temple, and is said to have been constantly burning since the beginning of its 'nown

history.

lthough there is a surfeit of stories regarding ever burning lamps from various periods of time, it seems that there is a conspicuous lac' of physical

evidence for such ob=ects. Furthermore, there is no 'nown substance with such properties. 0umerous explanations have been proposed to explain

this mystery, ranging from the (wor' of the #evil* to (alien gods*. )thers, however, have attributed such inventions not to external forces, but to the

genius of human beings. ould our ancient ancestors have held 'nowledge regarding a way to create a perpetual ame, which has become lost to

the pages of history"

It is certainly possible, however, given the fact that there is no physical proof for such lamps, some are inclined to believe that the ever burning

lamps are =ust mere legend. 0evertheless, be it the wor' of extra!terrestrials, or human sages, or simply non!existent, the ever burning lamps will

probably continue to be a mystery for a long time to come.

+eatured image: Picture of an old lamp. Photo source: ,ig"tocPhoto

References

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