For Mazar, the unveiling of this treasure was jaw-dropping not just because it is unprecedented, but also because of her personal ties to the seven-lamp menorah. Professor Nahum Slouschz, who is a relative of Mazar’s from her grandmother’s side, discovered a stone-sculpted menorah in excavations that he oversaw under the auspices of Israel Exploration Society in 1921. The menorah was found in a synagogue that dated back to the fourth century C.E. in the ancient archaeological site of Hamas Tiberias. This was the first archaeological excavation done by Jewish residents of the country. Her grandfather, Benjamin Mazar, discovered large Jewish catacombs that dated to the second century C.E. in Beit Shearim. That dig yielded dozens of biblical texts and ornaments. A year after the discovery, her grandfather’s father, Haim Meisler, passed away in Jerusalem. He was buried atop the Mount of Olives, a spot that clearly overlooks the City of David and the Temple Mount. The seven-lamp menorah is inscribed on his tombstone. It is shaped exactly like the menorah that was discovered in Beit Shearim. When Mazar’s grandfather, Benjamin, dug at the foot of the Temple Mount walls after the Six-Day War, a number of drawings of menorahs were found on the entrances to and the walls of one of the rooms in the Byzantine building, which most likely housed a synagogue just 20 meters away from the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount complex. As if that weren’t enough, the father of Eilat Mazar’s three children, Yair Shoham, was bestowed this name because he was born on the week in which the Torah portion of b’halatcha was read. It is the portion in which Aharon commands us to light the seven-lamp menorah. For Mazar, the discovery of the Ophel treasure six months ago represented a closure of sorts. She feels that it represents the ceaseless yearning of the Jewish people for redemption and resurrection in its homeland. “It’s not just another symbol,” she said. “It’s the most ancient symbol and it has the most significance for the Jewish people. What’s more remarkable is that it was discovered alongside other symbols like the ram’s horn and the Torah scroll at the foot of the entrance to the Temple Mount. This is a very powerful discovery which highlights the unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.”
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 03:00:42 +0000
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