I'm wondering what the "symbolic etymology", so to speak, is for the Lamp in the story of Aladdin and its relation to the Genie. Why would a genie be bound to an object and be made a servant to its finder? Can one assume the genie did something bad once and was punished to subjugation to the lamp, or is it somehow in their nature? Also, why would it seem reasonable for the genie to be bound to a lamp, of all the things it could be bound to?
Please don't misunderstand: I'm not asking what had happened in the mythological past that caused this particular genie to be bound to this particular lamp, but about what aspects of ancient Arabic culture might give rise to a myth about a genie bound to a lamp; or what the cultural connotations of an oil lamp might be, which would make the thought of someone or something (whichever category a genie would belong to) being bound to it emerge from the Arabic memeplex.
Lastly, I realize that History.SE isn't for mythological questions, but I thought that this question may be okay in that I'm not asking about things within the mythology, but for the historical cultural circumstances that gave rise to it. I'm reasoning that questions about ancient cultural symbols isn't very far removed from questions about ancient languages, which the FAQ explicitly lists as on-topic, or otherwise about historical cultural evolution. If my reasoning is wrong, feel free to close the question, I guess; in that case, perhaps I can at least serve to set a precedent.