The Temple menorah (; Biblical Hebrew: מְנוֹרָה, romanized: mənorā, Tiberian Hebrew: [/ˌmənoːˈʀɔː/]) is a seven-branched candelabrum that is described in the Hebrew Bible and later ancient sources as having been used in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. Since ancient times, it has served as a symbol representing the Jews and Judaism in both the Land of Israel and the Jewish diaspora. It became the State of Israel's official emblem when it was founded 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, 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. 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. The symbol has also been found in several archaeological artifacts from ancient Samaritan, Christian and Islamic communities. The Hanukkah menorah, a nine-branched variant of the menorah, is closely associated with the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
Construction and appearance
Hebrew Bible The Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible states that God revealed the design for the menorah to Moses and describes the construction of the menorah as follows:
31Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 32Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 33Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 34And on the lampstand are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 35One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 36The buds and branches shall be all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. 37Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. 38Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. 39A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. 40See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
The Book of Numbers (Chapter 8) adds that the seven lamps are to give light in front of the lampstand and reiterates that the lampstand was made in accordance with the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain.
In other sources
Rabbinic sources teach that the menorah stood 18 handbreadths/palms (three common cubits) high, or approximately 1.62 metres (5.3 ft). Although the menorah was placed in the antechamber of the Temple sanctuary, over against its southernmost wall, the Talmud (Menahot 98b) brings down a dispute between two scholars on whether or not the menorah was situated north to south, or east to west. The branches are often artistically depicted as semicircular, but Rashi, (according to some contemporary readings) and Maimonides (in a sketch commented on by his son Avraham), held that they were straight; all other Jewish authorities, both classical (e.g. Philo and Josephus) and medieval (e.g. Ibn Ezra), who express an opinion on the subject state that the arms were round. The Roman-Jewish historian Josephus, who witnessed the Temple's destruction, says that the menorah was actually situated obliquely, to the east and south. Chabad Lubavitch Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson viewed the drawing by Maimonides as definitive and, accordingly, Chabad synagogues use menorahs with straight branches in its synagogues around the world and, as well as in large Chanukah menorahs it erects in outdoor public displays. However, critics argue that Maimonides' design was meant to be schematic rather than pictorial and that other ancient sources depict menorahs with rounded arms.
Arch of Titus
The most famous preserved representation of the menorah of the Second Temple was depicted in a frieze on the Arch of Titus, commemorating his triumphal parade in Rome following the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE. In that frieze, the menorah is shown resting upon a hexagonal base, which in turn rests upon a slightly larger but concentric and identically shaped base; a stepwise appearance on all sides is thus produced. Each facet of the hexagonal base was made with two vertical stiles and two horizontal rails, a top rail and a bottom rail, resembling a protruding frame set against a sunken panel. These panels have some relief design set or sculpted within them.
Magdala Stone
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