Imagine that you find a small burning lamp hidden deep in an ancient vault. This mysterious lamp, which is in perfect

preservation, has burned continuously without fuel for the last 2,000 years. What would you think of your remarkable

discovery?

Most likely you would wonder whether the precious lamp that you are holding in your hands is a magical object, a

work of God, or perhaps some evil powers. Could this ancient treasure be a proof of highly advanced technology? Did

our ancestors discover the secret of eternal light?

Although it might sound amazing, and for some even impossible certain extraordinary findings clearly show that

perpetual light was rather common in prehistory. I deal with advanced ancient technology in "Voices from Legendary

Times" to a large extent. In my book I uncover a number of strange enigmas from all over the world. Perpetual light is

an ancient technology that to this today remains a mystery.

During the Middle Ages a number of ever-burning lamps were discovered in ancient tombs and temples. Based on

ancient records we learn that these mysterious objects were found all over the world, in India, China, South America,

North America, Egypt Greece, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, France and many other countries.

Unfortunately, looters, vandals, and superstitious diggers who feared that these objects possessed supernatural

powers destroyed many of the lamps.

As we all know, the Middle Ages cannot be characterized as a particularly scientific period. It was a dark time for

those who persuaded knowledge. Still, curiosity is a part of human nature and questions were asked. How were the

ancients able to produce lamps, which could burn without fuel for hundreds, and in some cases thousands of years?

From whom did our ancestors gain their secret knowledge?

Naturally, the subject of perpetual light became quickly a controversy and the opinions among the authorities were

divided. Some authors rejected the idea of a never-ending flame, despite the evidence they were confronted with. A

small group of more open-minded and enlightened persons confirmed the existence of, if not eternal then at least very

long-lasting light. Many on the other hand accused the Pagan priests of performing clever tricks. However, a majority

of the "learned" men acknowledged the unusual findings and declared the perpetual lamps to be a work of the devil.

This was a common explanation in the Dark Ages. As soon as something was unknown, of Pagan origin or not in

accordance with the rules set by the early Roman Church it was labeled as an invention of the dark forces, the devil

and his demons.

Some speculated that secret Hebrew societies had preserved what in modern days is known as electricity. For example,

the occult writer Eliphas Levi [don't believe this guy, he's so theatrical] relates a curious story in his book "Historie de

la Magie". He tells of a certain mysterious French rabbi named Jechiele who was an advisor in the thirteenth century

court of Louis IX. Apparently, Jechiele owned a lamp that he used to place in front of his house for everyone to see.

The "dazzling lamp that lightened itself" possessed no oil or wick. When the rabbi was asked about the energy source,

he always replied it was a secret. Jechiele, obviously experimented quite a lot with electricity. To protect himself from

enemies, he invented a discharge button that sent out an electric current into the iron knocker on his door. It is written

that when Jechiele "touched a nail driven into the wall of his study, a crackling bluish spark immediately leapt forth.

Woe to anyone who touched the iron knocker at that moment; he would bend double, scream as if he had been burned,

then he would run away as fast as his legs could carry him."

There were numerous speculations regarding the perpetual lamps' secret energy source. During the Middle Ages and

later many great thinkers tried to solve the problem how to prepare fuel that renewed itself as quickly as it was

consumed. However, none of the conducted experiments was truly successful. It turned out impossible to produce a

copy of an ever-burning lamp. The ancients' technology remained unknown.

The earliest accounts of a divine flame, an eternal light source can be found in various mythological texts. The

descriptions of the eternal flame, which was considered a part of the divine fire, are closely connected with the gods.

The Greek god Prometheus was punished for giving fire to mankind. The secret of the eternal flame was regarded as

gods' sole property. The knowledge of the eternal light should not be passed over to the humans. Nevertheless, it seems

as if some of the alien gods disobeyed and revealed their divine secret to humanity. When humans learned how to

produce perpetual light, temples worldwide were equipped with eternal altar flames.

According to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans tradition, a dead person might need some light on his or hers

road to the Valley of the Shadow. Therefore, before the tomb was sealed it was accustom to place an ever-burning

lamp inside. The lamp served as an offering to the god of the dead and it kept evil spirits away. Its light also offered

the deceased the required guidance on the journey to the Underworld. Hundreds of years later, when vaults were

opened excavators found the lamps in perfect condition and still burning.

So far, we have only spoken in general terms about the existence of perpetual light in antiquity. It has been estimated

that as many as 170 mediaeval authors have written about the phenomenal and mysterious ever-burning lamps. Let us

now look at some of the remarkable discoveries.

Plutarch wrote of a lamp that burned over the door of a temple to Jupiter Ammon. According to the priests, the lamp

remained alight for centuries without any fuel and neither wind nor rain could put it out.

St. Augustine described an Egyptian temple sacred to Venus with a lamp which wind and water could not extinguish.

He declared it to be the work of the devil.

In 527 A.D., at Edessa, Syria, during the reign of emperor Justinian, soldiers discovered an ever-burning lamp in a

niche over a gateway, elaborately enclosed to protect it from the air. According to the inscription, it was lit in 27 A.D.

The lamp had burned for 500 years before the soldiers who found it, destroyed it.

In 140, near Rome a lamp was found burning in the tomb of Pallas, son of king Evander. The lamp, which had been

alight for over 2,000 years, could not be extinguished by ordinary methods. It turned out that neither water nor

blowing on the flame stopped it from burning. The only way to extinguish the remarkable flame was to drain off the

strange liquid contained in the lamp bowl.

In about 1540, during the Papacy of Paul III a burning lamp was found in a tomb on the Appian Way at Rome. The

tomb was believed to belong to Tulliola, the daughter of Cicero. She died in 44 B.C. The lamp that had burned in the

sealed vault for 1,550 years was extinguished when exposed to the air. Interesting about this particular discovery is

also the unknown transparent liquid in which the deceased was floating. By putting the body in this liquid, the

ancients managed to preserve the corpse in such a good condition that it appeared as if death had occurred only a

few days ago.

When king Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church in 1534, he ordered dissolution of monasteries in Britain

and many tombs were plundered. In Yorkshire, a burning lamp was discovered in a tomb of Constantius Chlorus,

father of the Great Constantine. He died in 300 A.D. which means that the lamp had been burning for more than 1,200

years.