A mysterious menorah artifact

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: Mysterious capital depicting menorahs found in 1,500-year-old Roman site in Jerusalem. Artifact, made of local limestone, was discovered in a settlement dating from a time when no Jew was allowed to live in the region (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

An impressive limestone capital decorated with menorahs (Jewish ritual candelabras) unearthed in Jerusalem and dating from a period when Jews were barred by the Romans from living in the holy city will be on display for the first time on Independence Day, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Tuesday.

The artifact was discovered in 2020 during excavations ahead of constructions in the Motza neighborhood at the city’s entrance. It lay upside down in the room of a Byzantine structure dating to the 6th or 7th centuries CE. Experts believe the capital is more ancient and was repurposed for the building in what is known as “secondary use.”

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Ruth Schuster also has good coverage at Haaretz:

'Menorah' Artifact Found in Byzantine Home by Jerusalem Baffles Archaeologists. Unique pillar top featuring what looks like a menorah where none should be triggers argument: What are we seeing, and why are we seeing it?.

Question one is – is that a menorah we see? Some think it can't be or at least, shouldn't be because it makes no sense in the context.

Maybe it's just a pretty decoration, though it could be a pretty decoration of a menorah. The stonemason had seen menorah images and possibly without even realizing they were a Jewish symbol, copied it on his lovely column, [IAA archaeologist Uzi] Ad explains that line of thinking. ...

First of all, one reason the archaeologists are so baffled is that they've never found a capital like this before. The decoration on Corinthian pillar capitals was typically floral, Ad explains to Haaretz by telephone on Tuesday. When engaging in interpretation of an artifact, comparison with parallels is helpful but in this case, there are none.

Also, if that is an eight-branched candelabra – and frankly, it looks like one – what is a structure decorated with it doing in an area that had no Jews and hadn't for quite some time? For the last five years the experts at the IAA and Hebrew University have been trying to work that out through analysis of the artifact and its context. Some information has been forthcoming, if no concrete conclusions. Here we go.

For PaleoJudaica posts on the many discoveries at the site of Tel Motza (Tel Moza, Tel Moẓa, Tel Moẓah), start here and follow the links.

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