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As you read this story, you will learn the following:
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Archaeologists have discovered a rare 1,300-year-old lead pendant in Jerusalem decorated with an image of a menorah.
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It is the second similar pendant found in the world, discovered during excavations beneath the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount.
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The pendant dates from a time when Jews were restricted from entering Jerusalem, which makes the discovery particularly surprising.
Finding symbols of the Jewish faith in excavations in Jerusalem usually doesn’t cause much surprise, but archaeologists recently made an extremely rare find during excavations on the Temple Mount, a lead pendant decorated with a menorah. The 1,300-year-old pendant, the second of its kind found in the world, dates to the late Byzantine period between the sixth and early seventh centuries AD and was discovered in Jerusalem at a time when Jews were prohibited from entering the site.
“A pendant made of pure lead and decorated with a menorah is an extremely rare find,” a research team from the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement. “Research has found glass and other metal pendants decorated with menorahs, but we know of only one other type of pendant in the world. [now located in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore] Sign with lead candlestick. “
The newly discovered pendant features the same seven-branched candelabra design on both sides. “The dual appearance of the menorah on each side of the disk demonstrates the deep meaning of this symbol and the central place of the menorah in the visual representation of the temple and its memory, even long after the temple’s destruction,” the researchers said.
The piece was discovered during archaeological excavations at Davidson Archaeological Park in Jerusalem, beneath 26 feet of fill that had been piled up as part of construction activities during the construction of Islamic monuments in the early eighth century.
“One day, while I was digging inside an ancient building, I suddenly saw something different in the stone, something gray,” Ayayu Belete, a worker at the City of David, said in a statement. “I picked up the thing and it was a pendant with a menorah on it.”
This disc-shaped pendant has a ring at the top and could probably be worn as a necklace. Identical menorahs—each with three arms on either side of a central axis and a horizontal crossbar and flame at the top of each arm—are mounted within a circular frame. Researchers say one side is well preserved, while the other has a higher degree of patina. Laboratory analytical testing confirmed the pendant contained 99% lead.
“This is an unusual find,” said Yuval Baruch, an archaeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority. “This pendant with the menorah symbol is not just a physical object, it is a personal seal, a symbol of memory and identity, and it may have belonged to an anonymous Jew who chose to wear it around his neck.”
During the Byzantine period, Jews were prohibited from entering Jerusalem, raising questions about how the pendant found its way into the Temple area. Experts speculate that the pendant may have come from clandestine pilgrims who entered the city unofficially, or from Jews visiting on administrative missions or as traders.
“Even during periods when Jews were prohibited from entering Jerusalem, the connection with this holy site did not cease,” Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said in a statement.
Baruch said the pendant not only showed a personal devotion to the Jewish faith, but also that the edict banning Jews from entering the city did not stop everyone. Baruch said the common use of lead in making amulets, rather than other popular metals of the day, meant the pendants made more sense than as decorative jewelry. The use of lead also opens up more possibilities for who can make the piece. “During the Byzantine period, the menorah became a symbol of national memory and expressed the aspirations of the Jewish community in the Land of Israel for national renewal,” Baruch said.
The Israel Antiquities Authority plans to display the find during Hanukkah in Jerusalem at the Jay and Jenny Schottenstein National Campus of Archeology in Israel.
“In recent years, a growing body of archaeological evidence has shown that Jews, despite all the prohibitions and difficulties they faced, still found a way to reach Jerusalem and may even have settled there,” Baruch said.
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