Menorah (Temple)

The menorah ( məno ː ɾa ː, also: Menorah, hebr: מנורה, plural menorahs, hebr: מנורות; Hebrew term for chandelier, lamp ) is a seven-branched candlestick, one of the most important religious symbols of Judaism and was recorded at the founding of Israel in the coat of arms. The menorah has its origins probably symbolize enlightenment in Babylonia and should be. Menorah is used also as a general term for a chandelier in tree form ( עץ החיים ).

The menorah of the temple is not to be confused with the eight - or neunarmigen Menorah.

In the Bible

Moses received on Mount Sinai (as he also tablets with the Ten Commandments got ) a contract to build a sanctuary, the tabernacle. For this also a candlestick belonged (Ex 25.31-40 LUT LUT 37.17 to 24 ).

During the forty-year trek, the Israelites carried the tabernacle menorah always included with it, until it was finally integrated in the Temple in Jerusalem. There was King Solomon then set up ten golden menorahs, but these were later destroyed.

Second Temple and Reception

In the Second Temple stood again only a menorah, which was AD robbed in the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD by Titus by the Romans and taken to Rome. In the sack of Rome by the Vandals 455 AD their king Genseric took the candlestick in and took him to Carthage. After the Battle of Ad Decimum the Vandals War 533 AD, the Byzantines covered under her Belisarius at Carthage, the menorah was shipped as war booty after Constantine Opel. Emperor Justinian I was the candlestick back on the advice of the former Jewish community of Jerusalem. Whether they got there, is not occupied.

On the Arch of Titus, a triumphal arch to commemorate the triumphal procession, is a picture of the menorah to find a piece of loot. This is the last historical document of her; it is now considered lost, and of the fate there is wild speculation. The menorah was considered one of the symbols of the temple and is therefore often engraved on ancient coins, in mosaics or stone to be found. The previous earliest depiction of the menorah comes after the controversial view of Ausgräberin D. Avshalom - Gorni from a found near the ancient Magdala synagogue in 2009.