How Ancient Egyptians Contributed to the Modern Candle
By: Waverly Nohr/ Arab America contributing writer
The ancient Egyptians were notorious for making a candle-like product, known as rushlights. The Romans and Egyptians first made rushlights out of animal tallow-soaked reeds. The modern candle has evolved when the Romans started to use papyrus to create a wick more similar to the kind we have today. From animal tallow, the wick changed into being coated in beeswax. According to candles.org “Unlike animal-based tallow, beeswax burned pure and cleanly, without producing a smoky flame. It also emitted a pleasant sweet smell rather than the foul, acrid odor of tallow.” The expense of the modern candle increased immensely because of the beeswax development.
The utility of early candles:
There isn’t much thought put into when people light a candle today. While sometimes, they are still used for religious ceremonies or religious events, there is such casual uses for them today. The scents have evolved to make the candle be used to freshen up a room or bathroom, or create an ambiance. It isn’t likely that the ancient Egyptian’s candle smelled nice like the modern candle as it was made from animal tallow. In the days of the ancient Egyptians, “Candles were originally used as an important source of light and in many religious celebrations. Around 3,000 to 5,000 years ago, the Ancient Egyptians used rushlights, a type of candle made by soaking the dried pith, or core, of the rush plant in melted animal fat or grease.” Rushlights were an amazing contribution to human development as they proved that light could both be contained and transported around sites and houses and that fire could be harnessed.
The benefits of rushlights:
Rushlights could be made extremely inexpensively and were accessible to people of all economic classes. According to Sewhistorically, “Rushlights were often used as a nightlight because, unlike candles, they were safe to use. Apart from that, it was difficult to strike a light before the invention of matches.” This means that by using the rushlight as a nightlight, the ancient Egyptians could also use it as a way to start the fire for cooking in the morning.
Steps beyond the rushlight:
While Egyptians are credited with creating the rushlight, the rest of the world contributed in making more progressive forms of the candle. For instance, following the rushlights in ancient Egypt, “candles became more prevalent in worship. It was at this time that beeswax was used to make candles. These beeswax candles were made much like the Romans made their candles with tallow.” This made candles more of a luxury and harder to obtain for common people. To read more of the complete history and developments of candles, read here from CandleWic.
Can rushlights still be made today?
Yes! Not that many people seek out making the primitive candle, it can be done, and easily I might add. “Rushlights were either dipped in tallow, beexwax or leftover cooking grease, such as leftover bacon fat.” If you are still interested in saving your grease or bacon fat to make a rushlight go here for instructions. The ancient Egyptians were innovative to say the least, who knew that the rushlight would make it to 2021!
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