Menorahs
One of the most prominent symbols of Jewish culture and identity is the
menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum. Originally part of the inventory
of the Second Temple, the menorah came to be adopted in other contexts as
well. The only archaeological witness to the Temple menorah itself is the fa-
mous relief on the Arch of Titus in Rome (81c.e.; see fig. 71). There the can-
delabrum is depicted among other spoils of war, including the showbread ta-
ble and trumpets, being presented in triumph by the victorious Roman
army. The oldest depictions of the menorah, however, date to shortly before
the Herodian period. In his struggle against Herod, Mattathias, the last
Hasmonean king and high priest, minted coins depicting the menorah on
the reverse and the showbread table on the obverse as the most prominent
cultic objects in order to emphasize his priestly lineage and the legitimacy of
his rule (see fig. 11). Later, menorahs were found incised on walls of rooms
(the most famous from a wall in a house of the Upper City in Jerusalem
dated to the first centuryc.e.; see fig. 5), on a sundial found in the vicinity of
the Temple (its original context is unknown but it is dated to the first century
b.c.e./c.e.), in tombs (the eastern wall of the porch of Jason’s tomb from
around 30c.e.), on ossuaries (one example comes from the Goliath family
tomb in Jericho), and on a cistern wall in a refuge cave in NaFal Mikhmas.
None of these contexts has a particularly cultic character. Evidently, the me-
norah was on its way to becoming a more generic symbol of the Jewish reli-
gion. The number of menorahs depicted before the second half of the sec-
ond centuryc.e.is very low, and there are no depictions from the Diaspora
before the third centuryc.e., except in the Arch of Titus.Glassware
During the Herodian period, Palestine benefited from the stable political
conditions in the early Empire and enjoyed unprecedented economic
growth and prosperity. Consequently the variety of small objects, both lo-
cally produced and imported, grew considerably. Glass from the Lebanese
coast and fine ware from Syria, Cyprus, and Italy were increasingly im-
ported into Palestine, where they supplemented traditions of local pottery
production. From the second centuryb.c.e.onwards, molded glass bowls,
later complemented by beakers, were imported into Palestine. Blown glass
quickly spread after its invention somewhere on the Phoenician coast in343Archaeology, Papyri, and InscriptionsEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:13 PM