Discovery of a rare millennia-old jewel on the eve of Christmas in Jerusalem: “I saw something different, gray, among the stones”

A team of archaeologists working in Jerusalem has uncovered a lead medallion approximately 1,300 years old, decorated on both sides with the image of a seven-branched menorah, the ritual candelabrum associated with the Second Temple. Specialists believe the object was worn as a pendant by a Jewish individual between the late sixth and early seventh centuries.

The discovery was made during excavations in the so-called City of David, located near the Temple Mount. According to a statement from the Israel Antiquities Authority, the medallion was found among the remains of an ancient structure. One of the archaeologists on the team explained that she noticed it after spotting an object of a distinctive gray color among the surrounding stone.

The find is particularly significant because, during that period, Jewish access to Jerusalem was officially restricted. This ban dated back to Roman repression following the Bar Kokhba revolt in the second century, when Emperor Hadrian ordered the city to be rebuilt as Aelia Capitolina and renamed the region Syria Palaestina.

An exceptional object

The medallion was discovered inside a building from the late Byzantine period that had been buried under debris created by construction activity several decades later, following the Islamic conquest of the city. The object is circular in shape and features a small loop at the top. On both sides appears the seven-branched menorah, a symbol closely associated with the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.

The piece is made almost entirely of lead, a material rarely used for this type of representation. Researchers emphasize that very few lead medallions from this early period bearing this symbol are known, which underscores its exceptional nature. The fact that it was made of lead suggests that it may have been used as an amulet and worn discreetly.

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