Temple menorah

The menorah (/məˈnɔːrə/; Hebrew: מְנוֹרָה mənōrā, pronounced [menoˈʁa]) is a seven-branched candelabrum that is described in the Hebrew Bible and in later ancient sources as having been used in the Tabernacle and in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Since ancient times, it has served as a symbol representing the Jewish people and Judaism in both the Land of Israel and the Diaspora.^[1] It eventually became the State of Israel's official emblem after its founding in 1948.

According to the Hebrew Bible, the menorah was made out of pure gold, and the only source of fuel that was allowed to be used to light the lamps was fresh olive oil. The menorah was placed in the Tabernacle. Biblical tradition holds that Solomon's Temple was home to ten menorahs, which were later plundered by the Babylonians; the Second Temple is also said to have been home to a menorah. Following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE, the menorah was taken to Rome; the Arch of Titus, which still stands today, famously depicts the menorah being carried away by the triumphant Romans along with other spoils of the destroyed temple. The menorah was reportedly taken to Carthage by the Vandals after the sacking of Rome in 455. Byzantine historian Procopius reported that the Byzantine army recovered it in 533 and brought it to Constantinople, then later returned it to Jerusalem, but many other theories have been advanced for its eventual fate, and no clear evidence of its location has been recorded since late antiquity.

The menorah is frequently used as a symbol in Jewish art. There are no representations of the menorah from the First Temple period, but some examples dating from the Second Temple period have been recorded. Menorah images that were discovered include the coins of Antigonus II Mattathias, the last Hasmonean king of Judea, as well as on the walls of an Upper City mansion and Jason's Tomb in Jerusalem, and objects such as the Magdala stone. Following the destruction of the Second Temple, the menorah came to be recognized as a distinctively Jewish symbol and was depicted on tomb walls, synagogue floors, sculptures and reliefs, as well as glass and metal objects. The menorah has been also used since then to distinguish synagogues and Jewish cemeteries from the places of worship and cemeteries of Christians and pagans.^[2] The symbol has also been found in several archaeological artifacts from ancient Samaritan, Christian and Islamic communities.^[3] The Hanukkah menorah, a nine-branched variant of the menorah, is closely associated with the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

^ Birnbaum, Philip (1975). A Book of Jewish Concepts. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. pp. 366–367. ISBN 088482876X.
^ Hachlili, Rachel (2018). The Menorah: Evolving into the most important Jewish symbol. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-37509-3. OCLC 1033561712. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
^ Fine, Steven (2015). "When is a Menorah "Jewish"? On the Complexities of a Symbol under Byzantium and Islam". Age of Transition: Byzantine Culture in the Islamic World. Fashion Studies. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 38–53. ISBN 978-0-300-21111-5. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2022. It is now apparent that the image of the menorah is ubiquitous in Samaritan visual culture of this period, to no less a degree than it is in Jewish art... The first Samaritan mosaic was uncovered in 1949, at Salbit... Were it not for the distinctly Samaritan inscription at the site, it is likely that this building... would have been called a Jewish synagogue without hesitation... Christian interest in the menorah dates perhaps as far back as the Book of Revelation... Menorahs appear occasionally in obviously Christian contexts from Late Antiquity, as Marcel Simon has noted. A menorah flanked by crosses is seen on the sixth-century tombstone of a monk at Avdat in the Negev desert, for example... One issue of bronze coins dated to the Umayyad post-reform era (after 696/97) may be particularly significant for our study. A group of bronze issues shows the image of seven- and later five-branched menorahs surmounted by a crosspiece like those that appear on many Jewish menorahs, but with the Arabic legend "There is no god but Allah alone and Muhammad is Allah's messenger"—uniquely, on both faces of the coin.

[Birnbaum366-1] Birnbaum, Philip (1975). A Book of Jewish Concepts. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. pp. 366–367. ISBN 088482876X.

[2] Hachlili, Rachel (2018). The Menorah: Evolving into the most important Jewish symbol. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-37509-3. OCLC 1033561712. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.

[3] Fine, Steven (2015). "When is a Menorah "Jewish"? On the Complexities of a Symbol under Byzantium and Islam". Age of Transition: Byzantine Culture in the Islamic World. Fashion Studies. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 38–53. ISBN 978-0-300-21111-5. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2022. It is now apparent that the image of the menorah is ubiquitous in Samaritan visual culture of this period, to no less a degree than it is in Jewish art... The first Samaritan mosaic was uncovered in 1949, at Salbit... Were it not for the distinctly Samaritan inscription at the site, it is likely that this building... would have been called a Jewish synagogue without hesitation... Christian interest in the menorah dates perhaps as far back as the Book of Revelation... Menorahs appear occasionally in obviously Christian contexts from Late Antiquity, as Marcel Simon has noted. A menorah flanked by crosses is seen on the sixth-century tombstone of a monk at Avdat in the Negev desert, for example... One issue of bronze coins dated to the Umayyad post-reform era (after 696/97) may be particularly significant for our study. A group of bronze issues shows the image of seven- and later five-branched menorahs surmounted by a crosspiece like those that appear on many Jewish menorahs, but with the Arabic legend "There is no god but Allah alone and Muhammad is Allah's messenger"—uniquely, on both faces of the coin.

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