How did an ancient pendant made of cast lead, decorated on both sides with a seven-branched menorah, come to Jerusalem, at a time when Jews were restricted from entering the city?
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A very rare personal necklace pendant from the 7th century AD - the end of the Byzantine period - was discovered in a large-scale archaeological excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in cooperation with the City of David Association and the Society for the Restoration and Development of the Jewish Quarter in the Davidson Archaeological Park of Jerusalem.
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The rare find is decorated on both sides with an identical image of a seven-branched menorah, and was apparently worn by a Jew who arrived in Jerusalem during the Byzantine period, when Jews were prohibited from entering the city.
""One day, in the afternoon, while I was digging inside an ancient building, I suddenly saw something different, gray, among the stones of the wall," says Ayayo Balta, a City of David worker. "I pulled the find out of the ground and saw that it was a necklace pendant with a menorah on it. I immediately showed the find to Esther, the excavation director, and she said it was an especially rare find. I was very excited.".
The pendant is found within a layer of fill about 8 meters thick, which served as the foundation for a complex of monumental buildings from the Umayyad period. This layer of fill completely covered earlier remains - from the late Byzantine period, including the remains of buildings. These, according to the researchers, indicate a planned architectural arrangement, built alongside a paved street.
The pendant was designed as a disc, with a loop at the top for threading a cord or chain. On both sides of it were two identical seven-branched lamps, highlighted by a prominent round frame. One side was well preserved, while the other side was covered in patina - a layer of natural weathering.
The menorah model on both sides of the disk includes three canes on each side of the central cane, and at the tops of the canes appears a horizontal connecting beam, above which are flames. An XRF test at the analytical laboratories of the Israel Antiquities Authority, carried out by the artifact's conservator, Ilya Reznitsky, found that the pendant contains approximately 99% of lead.
Israel Antiquities Authority researchers Dr. Yuval Baruch, Dr. Philip Wokosbovich, Esther Rakov-Malet and Dr. Shulamit Terem: "A pendant made of pure lead, decorated with a menorah, is an extremely rare find. Pendants decorated with a menorah made of glass and other metals are known in the study, but we only know of one other pendant in the world bearing the symbol of the menorah, which was made of lead. This pendant, whose origin is unknown, is preserved in the Walter Museum of Art in Baltimore, USA. The double appearance of the menorah, on both sides of the disc, testifies to the deep significance of the symbol and the central place of the menorah in the visual expression of a connection to the Temple and its memory, even in the period after the destruction of the Temple.".
Historical sources indicate that during the Byzantine period, Jews were prohibited from entering Jerusalem. "This fact makes it difficult to understand the significance of the finds decorated with the menorah symbol in their historical context," the researchers say. "This raises the question of whether these are random finds, or whether they were perhaps the private belongings of Jews who came to the city for various reasons: merchants, those on administrative missions, or individuals who came to the city as secret pilgrims and under unofficial circumstances.".
Dr. Yuval Baruch, who has been directing excavations at the site for about a quarter of a century on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and who studies the subject of the menorahs, emphasizes: "This is an extraordinary find. This pendant, bearing the symbol of the menorah, is not just a material object; it is a personal seal, a document of memory and identity, which probably belonged to an anonymous Jew, who chose to wear it around his neck.
""This choice is not only an epitome of personal commitment to his religious faith, but also evidence that during periods when imperial edicts were issued prohibiting Jews from residing in the city, they did not stop coming to it. The choice to use lead, rather than one of the more common metals for making jewelry, may indicate that the owner of the object wore it as an amulet, not as a piece of jewelry. This is because lead was considered a common and particularly popular material for making amulets at that time.".
Dr. Baruch emphasizes that "during the Byzantine period, precisely then - and even more so - the menorah became a symbol of national memory and expectation of revival among the Jewish communities in the Land of Israel. In exile, the symbol was adopted in exactly the same way. Moreover, in recent years, archaeological evidence has been increasing that Jews, despite all the prohibitions and difficulties imposed on them, found ways to reach Jerusalem - and it is possible that some even settled there.".
The rare Menorah pendant will be displayed to the public for the first time during the Hanukkah holiday as part of tours and activities for families that will take place at the National Archaeological Museum of Israel in Jerusalem.
