Editing Temple menorah (section)

===Whereabouts following the Vandal sack of Rome===
[[File:Genseric sacking rome 456.jpg|thumb|Painting on Genseric sacking Rome by [[Karl Bryullov]] (1833–1836), depicting the menorah taken away by the Vandals.]]
[[File:Menorah 0307.jpg|thumb|upright=1.14|A reconstruction of the menorah of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]], manufactured by the [[The Temple Institute|Temple Institute]].]]

The location and state of the Menorah following the Vandal sack of Rome remains a mystery. Many scholars assume that at this point the Menorah left Rome for Carthage and further destinations, but some believe that the Menorah remains in Rome to this day.

# Many scholars consider as fact that the Menorah was carried off by the [[Vandals]] during the [[Sack of Rome (455)|Sack of Rome]] in 455 CE, the Menorah and other assorted treasures of the Temple in Jerusalem were taken to [[Carthage]], the capital of the [[Vandal Kingdom]].<ref>[http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1681&Itemid=27 Edward Gibbon: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103013325/http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1681&Itemid=27 |date=3 January 2008 }} (Volume 7: Chapter XLI.  From the Online Library of Liberty. The J. B. Bury edition, in 12 volumes.)</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vg_qlJyo7AC&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA66 |title=Donagan, Zechariah, ''Mountains Before the Temple'' (2009), p.66 |isbn=9781615795307 |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701134852/https://books.google.com/books?id=6vg_qlJyo7AC&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA66 |url-status=live |last1=Donagan |first1=Zechariah |date=November 2009 |publisher=Xulon Press }}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UGWdDwAAQBAJ&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA31 |title=Friedman, Asaf, ''Art and Architecture of the Synagogue in Byzantine Palaestina'' (2019), p.31 |isbn=9781527535053 |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701134853/https://books.google.com/books?id=UGWdDwAAQBAJ&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA31 |url-status=live |last1=Friedman |first1=Asaf |date=24 May 2019 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars }}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTJzCQAAQBAJ&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA68 |title=Garr, John D., ''Living Emblems Ancient Symbols of Faith'' (2009), p. 68 |isbn=9780979451416 |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701135858/https://books.google.com/books?id=rTJzCQAAQBAJ&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA68 |url-status=live |last1=Garr |first1=John D. |date=22 January 2007 |publisher=Golden Key Press }}</ref> They were still there when a [[Byzantine army]] under General [[Belisarius]] captured the city and defeated the Vandals in 533. Belisarius removed the Menorah and the other treasures and brought them to [[Constantinople]] as trophies of war. According to [[Procopius]], the Menorah was carried through the streets of Constantinople during Belisarius' triumphal procession.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16765/16765-h/16765-h.htm|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of the Wars, Books III and IV (of 8), by Procopius|website=www.gutenberg.org|access-date=4 July 2022|archive-date=26 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826184613/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16765/16765-h/16765-h.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto" /><ref name="auto2" /><ref name="auto1" /> Procopius adds that [[Justinian I|Justinian]], prompted by superstitious fear that the treasures had been unlucky for Rome and Carthage, sent them back to [[Jerusalem]] and the "sanctuaries of the Christians" there. The Menorah was therefore placed in the Nea Church located in the vicinity of what is today the Batei Makhse Square in the Old City.<ref>[https://aish.com/the-search-for-the-lost-menorah/ Avi Abrams The Search for the Lost Memorah September 15, 2024 Aish Torah]</ref> However, no record exists of their arrival there, and there are no indications of pilgrimages to a shrine for the Menorah there. If the Menorah arrived in Jerusalem, it may have been destroyed when [[Siege of Jerusalem (614)|Jerusalem was pillaged by the Persians in 614]], though legend suggests that it was secreted away by holy men, much as tradition purports the original Menorah was hidden before Nebuchadnezzar's invasion.<ref name="auto" /><ref name="auto2" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTJzCQAAQBAJ&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA68 |title=Garr, John D., ''Living Emblems Ancient Symbols of Faith'' (2009), p. 68 |isbn=9780979451416 |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701135858/https://books.google.com/books?id=rTJzCQAAQBAJ&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA68 |url-status=live |last1=Garr |first1=John D. |date=22 January 2007 |publisher=Golden Key Press }}</ref><ref name="auto3" />
# Legends and theories hypothesize the Menorah may have been melted down or broken into chunks of gold by conquerors, destroyed in a fire, kept at or returned to [[Constantinople]], or lost in a shipwreck. 
# One notable tradition is that the Menorah actually never left Rome with the Vandals. Orthodox Jews often cite as evidence of this the Oral Tradition, where there is a listing of Jewish treasures, which according to Jewish oral tradition are still in Rome, as they have been for centuries. According to a popular interpretation the Vatican has kept the Menorah and the other mentioned Temple treasures hidden for centuries. Some claim that it has been kept in [[Vatican City]], others that it is in the cellars of the [[Archbasilica of St. John Lateran]].<ref name="PovoledoExhibit" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Donagan |first1=Zechariah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6vg_qlJyo7AC&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA66 |title=Donagan, Zechariah, ''Mountains Before the Temple'' (2009), pp.66–67 |date=November 2009 |publisher=Xulon Press |isbn=9781615795307 |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701134852/https://books.google.com/books?id=6vg_qlJyo7AC&dq=temple+menorah+carthage&pg=PA66 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>  The above Oral Tradition is codified in the [[Avot of Rabbi Natan]], one of the [[minor tractates]] printed with the Babylonian Talmud.<blockquote>The objects that were crafted, and then hidden away are these: the tent of meeting and the vessels contained therein, the ark and the broken tablets, the container of manna, and the flask of anointing oil, the stick of Aaron and its almonds and flowers, the priestly garments, and the garments of the anointed [high] priest.<br /><br />But, the spice-grinder of the family of Avtinas [used to make the unique incense in the Temple], the [golden] table [of the showbread], ''the menorah'', the curtain [that partitioned the holy from the holy-of-holies], and the [[Priestly golden head plate|head-plate]] are still sitting in Rome.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=February 10, 2022 |title=Sefaria "Avot DeRabbi Natan 41" |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Avot_DeRabbi_Natan.41?lang=bi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703060343/https://www.sefaria.org/Avot_D%27Rabbi_Natan.41.12?vhe=Talmud_Bavli%2C_Vilna_1883_ed.&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en |archive-date=2022-07-03 |access-date= |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref></blockquote>