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NEWS
Stone with Rare Menorah Engraving Found Near Temple Mount
By Yechiel Sever
A rare menorah engraving was found on a stone object and a sword from the period of the destruction of the Second Temple. The discovery was made shortly before Tisha B'Av during the course of excavation work by the Antiquities Authority on the ancient drainage channel in Jerusalem, which leads from the Shiloach Pool via the City of David to the archaeological garden alongside the Kosel Maarovi.
In the soil beneath the street, adjacent to the drainage canal, a stone featuring a rare engraving of a menorah was uncovered. The excavation directors said the fact this was the closest any stone artifact has been found to the Temple Mount is highly significant.
Another intriguing finding during the work on the drainage channel, which Jerusalem residents used to hide from the Romans during the period of Churban Bayis Sheini, was an iron sword almost 2,000 years old, still in a leather scabbard. Parts of the sword belt were also found.
"It seems that the sword belonged to an infantryman of the Roman garrison stationed in Israel at the outbreak of the Great Revolt against the Romans in 66 CE," said the excavation directors. "The sword's fine state of preservation is surprising: not only its length (approximately 60 cm), but also the preservation of the leather scabbard (a material that generally disintegrates quickly over time) and some of its decoration."
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