Bryant G. Wood
Ivory pomegranate bearing an 8th century BC Hebrew script. It is the only known object attributed to Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.
Solomon’s Temple (sometimes referred to as the “First Temple”) was Israel’s central place of worship for about 380 years, from its construction in ca 970 BC until it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC. We know approximately where the remains are—somewhere beneath the present-day platform upon which the Dome of the Rock and El-Aqsa mosques are located in the Old City of Jerusalem. Since the area is holy to Muslims, excavation is not permitted; thus it has not been possible to examine the remains of Solomon’s temple firsthand. In spite of this limitation, it appears that now, for the first time, an object from Solomon’s Temple has come to light.
The artifact, a small ivory pomegranate, was first noticed in an antiquities shop in Jerusalem by French scholar Andre Lemaire in 1979. He published a scholarly description of his find in 1981 and a popular version in 1984 (see references). It was subsequently purchased and taken out of the country. But in 1988 the pomegranate was purchased by the Israel Museum, where it is now on display. This unique object is just under 1 3/4 inches (43 mm) tall and a little over 3/4 inch (21 mm) in diameter. It has a rounded body tapering toward a flat bottom pierced by a hole. The neck is narrow and tall and terminates in six petals, two of which are broken. Its shape is that of a pomegranate in its blossom stage of growth. A mature pomegranate, in contrast, is globular, with a crown of short petals.
With its bright red color, sweet juicy fruit and multitudinous seeds, the
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pomegranate was a common symbol of fertility in antiquity. It was widely used as a motif in the sacred and secular art of various cultures throughout the ancient Near East. A number of examples in round and representational art have been recovered in archaeological excavations. The pomegranate (rimmon in Hebrew) is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament and is included among the seven fruits common in Israel (Dt 8:7–8).
There are two specific references to pomegranates in connection with Solomon’s Temple. First, the capitals of the two columns in front of the temple (named Jachin and Boaz) were decorated with a chain of hundreds of pomegranate-shaped links (1 Kgs 7:15–22, 41–42; 2 Chr 3:15–17; Jer 52:21–23). Secondly, the robe of the High Priest was embellished along its hem with blue, purple and red pomegranates, along with golden bells (Ex 28:33–34). It seems, then, that the pomegranate motif was in common use in Solomon’s temple.
An inscription on the shoulder of the newly-discovered pomegranate distinguishes it from similar objects. It is carefully carved in small clear letters. Based on the shape of the letters, epigraphers have dated the inscription to ca. 750 BC, sometime around the time of king Uzziah. Although a portion of the inscription is broken away, it can be reconstructed as follows: “For the house (temple) of Yahweh, holy to the priests.” Yahweh, of course, was the unique name for God used only by the Israelites (see Bible and Spade, Winter 1978, pp. 21-22). The part of the inscription broken away was, in fact, the divine name. It is quite possible that this was intentional rather than accidental.
Although we can be fairly certain that the object came from the Jerusalem temple, determining how it was used is another matter. The findings of archaeology can perhaps give us some help
Inscription on the shoulder of the pomegranate. The open letters were originally broken away and here have been restored. It reads “For the house (temple) of Yahweh, holy to the priests.”
Actual-size cross-section of the ivory pomegranate. The hole in the bottom was probably for attaching it to a rod, thus forming a sceptor.
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Pomegranate-headed scepters found in excavations. The two on the left, from a 13th-century BC temple at Lachish, are made of ivory. The two on the right, from a 13th-early 12th-century BC tomb at Tel Nami, are made of bronze.
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here. In the 1930s, a 13th-century BC Canaanite temple was excavated at Lachish.Among the finds were two ivory rods approximately 10 inches (25 cm) long, each with a pomegranate on the end. Probably our ivory pomegranate was originally attached to such a rod. How these rods functioned cannot be known for sure, but the best guess is that they were scepters. Undoubtedly they served some function in the temple service. Similar scepters have been found in a number of tombs in Cyprus and in two tombs in Israel.
At Akhziv, north of Akko, three ivory pomegranates, two of them attached to reeds, were discovered in a Phoenician tomb dated to the eighth century BC. In another tomb, located at Tel Nami on the south coast of Haifa and dated to the 13th or early 12th-century BC, two pomegranate-headed scepters were found lying on the skeleton of the deceased. In this case, they were made of bronze and measure approximately 13 inches (33 cm) in length. A group of exquisite bronze incense vessels was found in the same tomb. It is believed that the person buried in the tomb was a priest and that the artifacts represent cultic implements used by him during his lifetime.
Putting all this information together suggests that the inscribed ivory pomegranate was the head of a scepter which was used by priests in Solomon’s temple. If so, this is the first known object to come from the temple at Jerusalem and represents one of the most important artifacts ever discovered in the Holy Land.
References
Michal Artzy, “Pomegranate Scepters and Incense Stand with Pomegranates Found in Priest’s Grave,” Biblical Archaeology Review 16/1 (1990), pp. 48-51.
Nahman Avigad, “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’,” Biblical Archaeologist 53 (1990), pp. 157-66.
Andre Lemaire, “Une Inscription Paleohebraique sur Grenade en Ivoire,” Revue Biblique 88 (1981), pp. 236-39.
Andre Lemaire, “Probable Head of Priestly Scepter from Solomon’s Temple Surfaces in Jerusalem,” Biblical Archaeology Review 10/1 (1984), pp. 24-29.
Hershel Shanks, “Pomegranate, Sole Relic from Solomon’s Temple, Smuggled Out of Israel,” Moment, the Magazine of Jewish Culture and Opinion 13 (1988), pp. 36-43.
Olga Tufnell, Charles H. Inge and Lancaster Harding, Lachish 2: The Fosse Temple, London: Oxford University Press, 1940.