The menorah, originally painted a rich yellow, on the Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum.
Technology Identifies Lost Color at Roman Forum
Historical sources describe the menorah looted by the Romans when they destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 as made of gold, as God instructed Moses in Exodus.
So the recent discovery that a version of the menorah in a bas-relief on the first-century Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum was originally painted a rich yellow should not come as much of a surprise. But given that the image faded to the color of its underlying stone long ago — like so much else in and around the Forum — precise knowledge of its once-bright pigmentation comes as an exciting revelation to historians and archaeologists.
“The Bible said it was gold, but the monument, as it was seen for centuries, told us it was white,” said Steven Fine, the director of the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project and a professor of Jewish history at Yeshiva University in New York, which is sponsoring the project. “Isn’t it cool to be that much closer to the viewers of the first and second century?”
The findings were made possible using noninvasive spectrometry readings carried out on the arch this month.
“The advantage of this method is that it doesn’t harm the monument,” said Cinzia Conti, the state archaeologist responsible for the arch. The monument is not only an important part of Rome’s physical history but also “very significant for the Jewish community,” she said.
