Depicted
on one the reliefs of the Arch of Titus in Rome is Titus's soldiers carrying
plunder from the Temple, which included the menorah. The depiction
is credible since the menorah was probably still in Rome at the time when
the arch was constructed. Josephus describes the menorah as "made
of gold but constructed on a different pattern from those we use in ordinary
life. Affixed to a pedestal was a central shaft, from which there
extended slender branches, arranged trident-fashion, a wrought lamp being
attached to the extemity of each branch; of these there were seven,
indicating the honor paid to the number among the Jews" (War
7.148-50).
Two fragments of a representation of a menorah in unpainted plaster were discovered in the debris of a house in Jerusalem from the Herodian period. Most likely, it is a copy of the menorah used in the Temple. |