From the press release:
Last weekend touring enthusiasts Mickey Barkal, Sefi Givoni and
Ido Meroz, who are members of the Israel Caving Club, went out to visit hidden
caves in the Judean Shephelah. According to hiker Ido Meroz, “We heard there
are interesting caves in the region. We began to peer into them, and that’s how
we came to this cave, which is extremely impressive with rock-carved niches and
engravings on the wall. Just before we were about to return we suddenly noticed
an engraving that at first glance seemed to be a menorah. When we realized this
is an ancient depiction of a menorah, we became very excited. Its appearance
was quite distinct. We left the cave and reported the discovery..”.
The menorah engraved on the wall of the cave has a base with three feet,
and it evidently portrays the menorah that stood in the Temple during the Second
Temple period.
A cross was engraved near the menorah.
Another engraving was
found on the side of the cave which seems to resemble a type of key that is characteristic
of antiquity, as well as other engravings that were noted, some of which have
not yet been identified.
According to Sa'ar Ganor, the District Archaeologist of Ashkelon in
the Israel Antiquities Authority, “There are buildings and hiding refuges from the time of the Bar
Kokhba uprising (second century CE) at the site and buildings that date to the
Byzantine period. It is rare to find a wall engraving of a menorah, and this
exciting discovery, which was symbolically revealed during the Hanukkah
holiday, substantiates the scientific research regarding the Jewish nature of the settlement
during the Second Temple period”. Ganor
added, “The menorah was probably etched in the cistern after the water
installation was hewn in the bedrock – maybe by inhabitants of the Jewish
settlement that was situated there during the Second Temple period and the time
of Bar Kokhba – and the cross was etched later on during the Byzantine period, most
likely in the fourth century CE.
The menorah is a distinctly Jewish symbol of the Second Temple
period. To date, only two engravings of menorahs are known in the region of the
Judean Shephelah: one on oil press at Bet Loya where the same style menorah is
depicted, and the other in a burial complex in the vicinity of Bet Guvrin. Other
menorahs are portrayed on clay lamps from Beit Natif.
And there was no crescent symbol.
^
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