Magdala's Stone of ContentionFor many past posts on the important discoveries at the site of Magdala – not least the Magdala Stone – see here, here, and here, and follow the links.
Since we do not have any art guidebook, which survived from the Late Second Temple period, we should approach the topic with caution.
The Menorah was definitely an important as a symbol in the Jewish art and it does refer to the Temple; but the Menorah was also a symbol of Judaism and Jews in the ancient world. It is just as reasonable to find a Menorah decorating a place where a Jewish community gathers to learn their Scriptures. This does not necessitate that every single ornament on the stone ought to be linked the Jerusalem's Temple cult.
See Also: New Archaeological Data from The Great Revolt in Jerusalem Raise New Questions on Josephus
Did the Fortified Jerusalem of the Middle Bronze Just Vanish, and What Does This Say About King David?
By Dr. David Gurevich
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University
August 2018
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