Previous articleNext article FreeFrom the Guest EditorsGregg E. Gardner and Lily C. VuongGregg E. Gardner Search for more articles by this author and Lily C. Vuong Search for more articles by this author Full TextPDF Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreThe ark of the covenant and the golden candelabrum (a.k.a. menorah) are among the many religious relics that have long been the object of popular fascination. Sensationalist tales about their whereabouts have increased exponentially with the expansion of media outlets in the digital age—the True Cross, Noah’s Ark, and other objects, it seems, are “discovered” on a regular basis.And yet, we should not let sensationalism discourage us from engaging in critical, scientific explorations of the very real roles that material culture plays in religious traditions. In recent years, specialists in anthropology, religion, and history have increasingly examined the production, circulation, and consumption of objects, and how they mediate relationships amongst humans, as well as between humans and the divine. This renewed focus on the materiality of religion illuminates how religious traditions incorporate patterns of feelings and sensations that are bound up with performances, objects, and spaces. As David Morgan has written, not everything meaningful to a religious group is necessarily expressed in words or written down in texts. A subset of the recent “material turn” in religious studies is an increased interest in relics, defined as the remains of significant individuals (“primary” or “corporeal” relics) or the objects with which they came into contact (“secondary” or “contact” relics). Relics index duration, postpone oblivion, function as signs of a previous power, and reassure the user of the persistent potency of that power. Annabel Wharton writes that relics thus signify nonmaterial references in culturally complex ways, as multifunctional signifiers operating across a range of social contexts and subject to reappropriation by various groups. In late antiquity, both Jews and Christians fostered connections to the even more distant biblical past by cultivating narratives on the fate of the temple vessels. These are generally understood to include the ark of the covenant, menorah, showbread table, as well as the pots, shovels, bowls, basins, and other implements used in the Jerusalem temple’s sacrificial rituals. Also included are valuables that were given by kings and wealthy individuals, or acquired as spoils of war, and stored in the Jerusalem temple’s treasury. As will become evident from the papers that follow, however, this group of objects was never any one thing—rather, their nature and inventory differ from one source to another, in accordance with each author’s proclivities, objectives, and social-historical context.This special issue of Near Eastern Archaeology on the fate of the temple vessels in Jewish antiquity explores how the material culture of Jerusalem’s First Temple (ca. 960 to 586 BCE) and Second Temple (ca. 515 BCE to 70 CE) were depicted by Jews in late antiquity (70 to 640 CE) in their texts and material culture. The paper by Ballentine provides the early context, suggesting new ways to understand the vessels’ depictions in the Hebrew Bible. The bulk of the papers address depictions of the temple vessels in late antique Jewish sources (DesRosiers, Fine, Fraade, Stern), ranging from the first-century historian Flavius Josephus to classical rabbinic literature (Talmud, Midrash), to ancient art, to graffiti on the walls of underground burial installations. These papers wrestle with the often tense relationships between postdestruction Jewish realities and the emphasis on cultic activities inherited from the biblical past and symbolized by the temple vessels. The authors show how the past was drawn upon and reshaped in light of late antique Jews’ contexts in the Roman and Christian worlds. The paper by Concannon brings our exploration to date, examining contemporary uses of the Second Temple and its era. Challenging disciplinary boundaries between textual and material studies, these papers contribute to our understanding of ancient Judaism and, more broadly, the role of material culture in religion. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Near Eastern Archaeology Volume 82, Number 3September 2019The Fate of the Temple Vessels in Jewish Antiquity A journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/703985 Views: 84 Copyright 2019 American Schools of Oriental Research Crossref reports no articles citing this article.
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Sep 11, 2024
Yujie Zhu 
