1,300-Year-Old Menorah Pendant Found Near Temple Mount

IFCJ Canada  |  December 24, 2025

Last week, just before the first night of Hanukkah, a 1,300-year-old pendant bearing the image of a seven-branch menorah was found in a dig site near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Post reports that the pendant is not only significant for its rarity, but also for what it suggests based on its age. At a time when imperial forces barred Jews from entering, this pendant means that there was still a Jewish presence in the city.

The small, disk-shaped pendant dates to the 6th to early 7th centuries CE, during the Late Byzantine period. Cast almost entirely of lead, it is decorated on both sides with an identical image of a menorah framed within a circular border. Only one other ancient lead pendant bearing the menorah symbol is known worldwide, an object of unknown provenance housed at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.

The pendant was discovered by chance within the rubble of a Late Byzantine structure buried beneath an approximately eight-meter-thick layer of fill. That fill was deposited in the early 8th century as part of extensive construction associated with the erection of monumental Umayyad buildings in the area.

City of David worker Ayayu Belete, who made the discovery, describes being moved and excited upon seeing this item of Jewish significance. Dr. Yuval Baruch of the Israel Antiquities Authority said that the menorah was a symbol of a national revival of Jewish communities in ancient Israel.

The pendant was displayed in Jerusalem during the week of Hanukkah as a symbol of the continued devotion and perseverance of the Jewish community. With a Festival of Lights marred by a terror attack and the need for renewal after two years of war in Israel, this discovery reminds us of the indominable spirit of the Jewish people – both in ancient and modern times.