A 2,000-year-old stone block unearthed by archaeologists from an Israeli synagogue in the town of Magdala will be featured in the first-ever joint art exhibit mounted by the Vatican Museums and Rome’s Jewish community.
The block, featuring a relief of a menorah beside two jugs, will be part of an exhibit titled Menorah: Worship, History and Myth, tracing the history of the seven-branched symbol of Jewish faith (not to be confused with the nine-branched candleholder used during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah) and its influence on Christian art and artifacts.
The exhibit was announced on Monday by Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Vatican body responsible for promoting Christian unity; Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni; and officials from the Vatican Museums and the Jewish Museum of Rome.
Cardinal Koch welcomed the initiative, saying it underscored the spiritual heritage of the Catholic Church and the positive interfaith dialogue between the Vatican and the Jewish community.
“This is an interesting initiative from a cultural point of view and its ideological symbolism,” said Rabbi Di Segni. “Although the menorah is essentially considered a Jewish symbol, it also has a history in the Christian world.”
But the joint initiative of the two faiths will do little to solve the mystery of what happened to the original menorah stripped from the Second Temple in Jerusalem by marauding Roman soldiers and carried back to ancient Rome in 70 AD.
Depicted in the Arch of Titus relief inside the Roman Forum to mark the conquest, the menorah is thought to have been stolen by invading vandals in the sacking of Rome in the fifth century.
Nevertheless, it was during the Roman Empire that the menorah became a strong cultural and religious symbol for Jews, appearing on graves, sarcophagi and catacombs on the outskirts of the city.
Read the full article by Josephine McKenna at Sight Magazine.