THE TEMPLE TREASURES FOUND?

Treasures looted by Rome 'are back in the Holy Land
By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent (London Times)

A COLLECTION of sacred artefacts looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem and long suspected of being hidden in the vaults of the Vatican are actually in the Holy Land, according to a British archaeologist.

Sean Kingsley, a specialist in the Holy Land, claims to have discovered what became of the collection, which is widely regarded as the greatest of biblical treasures and includes silver trumpets that would have heralded the Coming of the Messiah.

The trumpets, gold candelabra and the bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence were among pieces shipped to Rome after the looting in AD70 of the Temple, the most sacred building in the ancient Jewish faith.

After a decade of research into previously untapped ancient texts and archaeological sources, Dr Kingsley has reconstructed the treasure’s route for the first time in 2,000 years to provide evidence that it left Rome in the 5th century.

He has discovered that it was taken to Carthage, Constantinople and Algeria before being hidden in the Judaean wilderness, beneath the Monastery of Theodosius.

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I would be delighted if this were true, but I am extremely skeptical. I'll believe it when I see the treasures. At the end of the article we read "Dr Kingsley will reveal his findings in God’s Gold: The Quest for the Lost Temple Treasure of Jerusalem, to be published by John Murray on October 5." Should be interesting to read. Dr. Kingsley is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Reading. Here is information on him from their Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies website:

Sean Kingsley
MA DPhil: Editor of the leading international archaeology and history of ancient art magazine 'Minerva'. A leading expert on maritime archaeology and specialist on the Byzantine Holy Land and trade in Late Antiquity, Dr Kingsley has conducted excavations and surveys of shipwrecks in the Mediterranean and publishes extensively on Byzantine pottery.

The Monastery of Theodosius near Bethlehem doesn't seem to have a website, but here's some information about it.

For more on the lost Temple treasures, see here. I have been working on Massekhet Kelim lately but, no, I still haven't come into sudden wealth.