The candle is in appearance a primitive affair, yet there is little doubt that its predecessor was the lamp. Those old Egyptian tombs, which have unlocked many mysteries, held lamps, and through them evidence of ancient burial customs. Lamps played a part in the solemn feasts of the Egyptians, who on such occasions placed them before their houses, burning them throughout the night. Herodotus, in one of his numerous references to Xerxes, alludes to the hour of lamp-lighting, and evidences abound regarding the use of lamps among the ancient Greeks. Lamps, indeed, are pictured upon some of their oldest vases, indicating the symbolic significance which attached to them. [Illustration: A French watch tower of the fifteenth century in time of siege. The tower is lighted by means of beacons and is protected by dogs. Ruins of such a tower can still be seen at Godesberger on the Rhine.] What Were the Earliest Lamps? It is probable that the earliest lamps were nothing more than convenient vessels, filled with oil and fired by means of rushes. Among the Romans pine splinters, the torch and the flambeau, supplied light until the fifth century before Christ, and even when the Roman began to use the lamp, it was by no means common, finding a place only in the homes of the rich, or on special festival days. The custom of burning funeral lights beside the dead before interment is a very old one. Gregory, interpreting its significance for the Christian, says that departed souls, having walked here as the children of light, now walk with God in the light of the living. The Roman, Pliny, refers to the use of the pith of brittle rushes in making funeral lights and watch-candles, which were probably the ancient prototype of the old rushlight of England. Again, in speaking of flax, Pliny states that the part of the reed that is nearest to the outer skin is called tow, and is good for nothing but to make lamp-matches or candlewicks. What Were the Lamps of the Wise and Foolish Maidens Made Of? When lamps had come into general favor, better attention was given to their form and construction. The first seem to have been made of baked clay, moulded by hand into elongated vessels to contain the oil, and provided at one end with a lip to admit the wick. These are the lamps which artists have pictured in the hands of the wise and foolish virgins, though in the opinion of some scholars they were merely rods of porcelain and iron, covered with cloth and steeped in oil. Another early type, which was less common, presents a simple disc with an aperture in the centre for the oil, and a hole for the wick, at one or both of the sides.