Abstract
Connections between the menorah and the Jerusalem temple and the ubiquity of menorahs in multiple settings throughout the ancient Mediterranean have encouraged many scholars to speculate about their common repertoires of “meanings” for ancient Jews. This essay takes a different approach. By examining menorahs replicated in specific media (graffiti), in particular spatial and practical contexts (cemeteries and tombs), and within varied geographic expanses (from ancient Palestine, Europe, and North Africa), the ensuing analysis challenges prevailing discussions of menorahs by demonstrating how associated images can be more productively and distinctly interpreted, not as static markers of Jewish identity, but as dynamic indices of human agency and demographic and architectural variability related to the discrepant cultural realities, spatial contexts, and activities of their creators.
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