(Ha'aretz) Philippe Bohstrom - A seven-branched menorah with a branching three-legged base carved on a stone block in the wall of a 1400-year-old Byzantine church in Abila, Jordan, is the first tangible evidence of a Jewish presence in the ancient Hellenistic city, located near the border with Syria, not far from Israel. Depictions of the Jewish menorah with a tripod base were popular in Judaism of the 4th-6th centuries CE. This can be seen in the mosaic floors of several synagogues, for instance in Hammath Tiberias, Beit She'an, Beit Alpha and Nirim. The first known menorah is mentioned in the Bible (Exodus 25:31-40, 37:17-24).
2016-09-22 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive