Late-antique oil lamp inscribed with menorah excavated

FOR HANUKKAH: Rare oil lamp with Temple menorah found from time when Romans barred Jews from Jerusalem. Intricately designed 1,700-year-old artifact was discovered intact near the Mount of Olives, will go on display in Jerusalem (Gavriel Fiske, Times of Israel).

A rare, 4th-century CE ceramic oil lamp recently discovered during Israeli Antiquities Authorities excavations near the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem will be displayed to the public for the first time during the current Hanukkah holiday, the IAA said Thursday.

The unusual lamp is decorated with imagery related to the services in the Jewish Second Temple in Jerusalem, including a Temple menorah (which had seven branches, unlike the nine-branched menorahs used during Hanukkah). Also depicted on the small lamp are an incense shovel, which Temple priests used when making offerings, and a lulav, the date palm frond used during the Sukkot holiday.

[...]

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.