Unique Menorah in 2nd-Temple Synagogue

December 15, 2009

In the middle of the synagogue, is a square stone engraved with a seven-branched menorah (candelabrum) set atop a pedestal with a triangular base, sitting in between two amphoras (jars). The top and four sides are adorned with reliefs. Nothing like this has ever been seen before.

According to IAA excavation director Dina Avshalom-Gorni, “This is the first time that a menorah decoration has been discovered from the days when the Second Temple was still standing. This is the first menorah to be discovered in a Jewish context and that dates to the Second Temple period/beginning of the Early Roman period. We can assume that the engraving that appears on the stone…was done by an artist who actually saw the seven-branched menorah with his own eyes in the Temple in Jerusalem. The synagogue that was uncovered joins just six other synagogues in the world that are known to date from the Second Temple period.”

 

 

Photo Credit: Photos by IAA