Story by PESACH BENSON/TPS
A remarkably rare 1,300-year-old lead pendant bearing a seven-branched menorah has been uncovered in Jerusalem, shedding new light on Jewish presence in the city during a period when imperial authorities officially barred Jews from entering, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday.
The discovery was made in an archaeological park adjacent to the Temple Mount during large-scale excavations conducted in recent years.
The small, disk-shaped pendant dates to the 6th to early 7th centuries CE, during the Late Byzantine period. Cast almost entirely of lead, it is decorated on both sides with an identical image of a menorah framed within a circular border. Only one other ancient lead pendant bearing the menorah symbol is known worldwide, an object of unknown provenance housed at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
The pendant was discovered by chance within the rubble of a Late Byzantine structure buried beneath an approximately eight-meter-thick layer of fill. That fill was deposited in the early 8th century as part of extensive construction associated with the erection of monumental Umayyad buildings in the area.
“One day while I was digging inside an ancient structure, I suddenly saw something different, gray, among the stones,” said Ayayu Belete, a City of David worker who uncovered the artifact. “I picked the object up and saw that it was a pendant with a menorah on it. I immediately showed the find to Esther Rakow-Mellet, the area director, and she said it was an especially rare find. I was deeply moved and excited!”
Valeria Fenik works at a digging site in the Givati Parking Lot excavation grounds, at the City of David National Park, on July 22, 2019. The most recent digging site currently under work is attributed to the Muslim, Byzantine, and early Roman periods. (credit: HADAS PARUSH/FLASH90)
A rare and intriguing find
Archaeologists determined that the pendant was designed to be worn on a necklace, with a loop cast at its top. One side of the object was well preserved, while the other was partially obscured by patina, a natural weathering layer. Each menorah features a central shaft with three arms extending from each side, topped with horizontal bars and stylized flames. An XRF test carried out at the Israel Antiquities Authority’s analytical laboratories found the pendant to be composed of approximately 99% lead.