Editing Temple menorah (section)

==History==
===Tabernacle===
The original menorah was made for the [[tabernacle]], and the Bible records it as being present until the [[Israelites]] crossed the [[Jordan River]]. When the tabernacle tent was pitched in [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]],<ref>{{bibleverse||Joshua|18:1|HE}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse||1 Samuel|3:3|HE}}</ref> it is assumed that the menorah was also present. However, no mention is made of it during the years that the [[Ark of the Covenant]] was moved in the times of [[Samuel]] and [[Saul]].<ref>{{bibleverse||1 Samuel|5:1|HE}}</ref>

[[Benjamin Sommer|Benjamin D. Sommer]] suggests that while the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was reserved for God’s presence, the main room featured a metal menorah with six branches on each side, potentially echoing the [[asherah pole|asherah]], a [[sacred tree]] or [[branch|pole]].<ref>Sommer, Benjamin D. ''The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel''. Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 75.</ref> However, Rachel Hachili argues that theories positing that the menorah had its roots in some kind of sacred tree or plant have several problems.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hachili |first=Rachel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TOI9oLkEHdoC&pg=PA38 |title=The Menorah, the Ancient Seven-armed Candelabrum: Origin, Form, and Significance |date=2001 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-12017-4 |pages=38—39}}</ref>

===Solomon's Temple===
According to [[Books of Kings|2 Kings]] and the [[Books of Chronicles]], [[Solomon]] created ten lampstands ("menorahs"), that were put in the ''heikal,'' [[Solomon's Temple]] main chamber.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Kings|7:49|HE}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|28:15|HE}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|4:7|HE}}</ref> The weight of the lampstands forms part of the detailed instructions given to Solomon by [[David]]. According to the [[Book of Jeremiah]], the lampstands were taken away by the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylonian]] general [[Nebuzaradan]] following the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|destruction of Jerusalem]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Jeremiah|52:19|HE}}</ref>

===Second Temple===
[[File:The National Library of Israel, Jewish New Year cards C HL 12.JPG|thumb|High Priest pouring oil over the menorah, Jewish new year card]]
During the construction of the [[Second Temple]] following the [[Return to Zion]], no mention is made of the return of the menorah but only of "vessels."<ref>{{bibleverse||Ezra|1:9-10|HE}}</ref> The [[Books of the Maccabees|book of Maccabees]] records that [[Antiochus Epiphanes|Antiochus IV]] took away the lampstands (plural) when he pillaged the Temple.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Maccabees|1:21}}</ref> The later record of the making of "new holy vessels" may refer to the manufacture of new lampstands.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Maccabees|4:49}}</ref> According to the [[Rosh Hashanah (tractate)|Talmud]], the returning [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmoneans]] were poor and forced to construct the Menorah out of wood. They later upgraded it to silver and ultimately gold.<ref name="RH24b">[[Rosh Hashanah (tractate)|''Rosh Hashanah'']] 24b.</ref>

===Rome===
[[File:(Venice) La distruzione del tempio di Gerusalemme -Francesco Hayez - gallerie Accademia Venice.jpg|thumb|''Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem'' by [[Francesco Hayez]]. The menorah is carried away by Roman soldiers, on the bottom-left corner. Oil on canvas, 1867.]]
The menorah from the Second Temple was carried to [[Rome]] after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70)|destruction of Jerusalem]] in 70 CE at the height of the [[First Jewish–Roman War]]. Its fate is recorded by Josephus, who states that it was brought to Rome and carried along during the [[Roman triumph|triumph]] of [[Vespasian]] and [[Titus]]. The [[bas relief]] on the [[Arch of Titus]] in Rome depicts a scene of Roman soldiers carrying away the spoils of the Second Temple, including the menorah.

For centuries, the menorah and the other temple treasures were displayed as [[War trophy|war trophies]] either at the [[Temple of Peace, Rome|Temple of Peace]] in [[Rome]], or in the Imperial Palace.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3Q6DwAAQBAJ&q=Temple+of+Peace,+Rome+jerusalem |title=Tucci, Pier Luigi, ''The Temple of Peace in Rome'' (2017), p.10 |isbn=9781108548816 |access-date=16 March 2023 |archive-date=1 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701134852/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3Q6DwAAQBAJ&q=Temple+of+Peace,+Rome+jerusalem |url-status=live |last1=Tucci |first1=Pier Luigi |date=16 November 2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> It was still there when the [[Sack of Rome (455)|city was sacked]] by [[Vandals]] in 455 CE.<ref name="PovoledoExhibit">{{cite news|last1=Povoledo|first1=Elisabetta|title=Vatican and Rome's Jewish Museum Team Up for Menorah Exhibit|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/world/europe/vatican-rome-menorah-exhibit-jewish-museum.html|access-date=18 May 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 February 2017|archive-date=22 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222102854/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/world/europe/vatican-rome-menorah-exhibit-jewish-museum.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===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>