Temple menorah
The Temple menorah 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 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 high, or approximately. Although the menorah was placed in the antechamber of the Temple sanctuary, over against its southernmost wall, the Talmud 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, and Maimonides, held that they were straight; all other Jewish authorities, both classical and medieval, 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 Maimonidides' 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
In 2009, the ruins of a synagogue in Magdala with pottery dating from before the destruction of the Second Temple were discovered under land owned by the Legionaries of Christ, who had intended to construct a center for women's studies. Inside that synagogue's ruins, a carved stone block was discovered, which had on its surface, among other ornate carvings, a depiction of the seven-lamp menorah differing markedly from the depiction on the Arch of Titus, which could possibly have been carved by an eyewitness to the actual menorah present at the time in the Temple at Jerusalem. This menorah has arms which are polygonal, not rounded, and the base is not graduated but triangular. It is notable, however, that this artifact was found a significant distance from Jerusalem and the Arch of Titus has often been interpreted as an eyewitness account of the original menorah being looted from the temple in Jerusalem.Usage
According to the Book of Exodus, the lamps of the menorah were lit daily from fresh, consecrated olive oil and burned from evening until morning.Josephus states that three of the seven lamps were allowed to burn during the day also; however, according to one opinion in the Talmud, only the center lamp was left burning all day, into which as much oil was put as into the others. Although all the other lights were extinguished, that light continued burning oil, in spite of the fact that it had been kindled first. This miracle, according to the Talmud, was taken as a sign that the Shechinah rested among Israel. It was called the ner hama'aravi because of the direction of its wick. This lamp was also referred to as the ner Elohim, mentioned in I Samuel 3:3. According to the Talmud, the miracle of the ner hama'aravi ended after the High Priesthood of Simon the Just in the 3rd or 4th century BC.
Contrary to some modern designs, the ancient menorah burned oil and did not contain anything resembling candles, which were unknown in the Middle East until about 400 CE.
History
Tabernacle
The original menorah was made for the tabernacle, and the Bible records it as being present until the Israelites crossed the Jordan River. When the tabernacle tent was pitched in Shiloh, it is assumed that the menorah was also present. However, no mention is made of it during the years that the Ark of the Covenant was moved in the times of Samuel and Saul.Benjamin D. Sommer suggested that while the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was reserved for God's presence, the main room featured a metal menorah with six branches on each side, potentially echoing the asherah, a sacred tree or pole. However, Rachel Hachili argued that theories positing that the menorah had its roots in some kind of sacred tree or plant have several problems.
Solomon's Temple
According to 2 Kings and the Books of Chronicles, Solomon created ten lampstands that were put in the heikhal, Solomon's Temple main chamber. The weight of the lampstands forms part of the detailed instructions given to Solomon by David. According to the Book of Jeremiah, the lampstands were taken away by the Babylonian general Nebuzaradan following the destruction of Jerusalem.Second Temple
During the construction of the Second Temple following the Return to Zion, no mention is made of the return of the menorah but only of "vessels." The book of Maccabees records that Antiochus IV took away the lampstands when he pillaged the Temple. The later record of the making of "new holy vessels" may refer to the manufacture of new lampstands. According to the Talmud, the returning Hasmoneans were poor and forced to construct the Menorah out of wood. They later upgraded it to silver and ultimately gold.Yonatan Adler argued in The Origins of Judaism that no extrabiblical evidence exists for a seven-branch menorah in the Jerusalem temple prior to the late Hasmonean period, in the mid-1st century BCE.