Bonus 42 - Pomegranate Inscription

A re-constructioned photo of
artifact reconstructed as if fully intact.
Public Domain

Perhaps one of the most famous and controversial artifacts is what is called the “Ivory Pomegranate,” which came to the world’s attention in 1979 from an antiquities shop in Jerusalem, when it was announced to the world and published by the famous French epigrapher, André Lemaire.1. Although it is a small artifact (43 mm or 1.68″ high) it contains an inscription that is important if authentic, since it is reportedly translated as “Belonging to the Temp[le of Yahwe]h, holy to the priests.”2. It would be the only evidence of the Temple of Solomon in existence if proven authentic and thus the debate over it being a forgery. It was purchased by the Israel Museum in 1988 for $550,000 and claimed to be authentic by the senor professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, Nahman Avigad.3. However, one of his students Aharon Kempinski challenged his claim and argued that it was a scepter head from a scepter from the temple of Asherah.4. The debate over its authenticity is still pending.5.  


Footnotes

• 1. André Lemaire, “Une inscription paleo-hebraique sur grenade en ivoire,” Revue Biblique 88 (1981): 236–39
• 2. Shanks, Hershal. “The Pomegranate Scepter Head—From the Temple of the Lord or from a Temple of Asherah?” Biblical Archaeology Review 18:03 (May/June 1992), 42.
• 3. Nahman Avigad, Avigad, Nahman. “An Inscribed Ivory Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’,” Qadmoniot 22, no. 3-4 (1989): 95-102 (Hebrew); “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord,’” The Israel Museum Journal 8 (1989): 7; Yuval Goren et al., “A Re-Examination of the Inscribed Ivory Pomegranate from the Israel Museum,” Israel Exploration Journal 55 (2005): 3.
• 4. Kempinski, Aharon. “Is It Really a Pomegranate from the ‘Temple of Yahweh?’” Qadmoniot 23 (1990): 126 (in Hebrew).
• 5. Shanks, Hershel. “First Person: A New Target.”  Biblical Archaeology Review November/December 2014.

For further Study
Ahituv, Shmuel, Aaron Demsky, Yuval Goren and André Lemaire (2007). “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the Israel Museum Examined Again”. Israel Exploration Journal 57 (1): 87–95
Anzy, Michal “Prize Find: Pomegranate Scepters and Incense Stand with Pomegranates Found in Priest’s Grave,” Biblical Archaeology Review 16:01
Avigad, Nahman “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’.” Ancient Jerusalem Revealed, Geva, H. (ed.), Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1994, 128-137.
Avigad, Nahman. “An Inscribed Ivory Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’,” Qadmoniot 22, no. 3-4 (1989): 95-102 (Hebrew).
Avigad, Nahman. “It Is Indeed a Pomegranate from the ‘Temple of Yahweh,’” Qadmoniot 24 (1991), 60- (in Hebrew).
Avigad, Nahman. “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’.” The Israel Museum Journal 8 (1989): 7-16.
Avigad, Nahman. “The inscribed Pomegranate from the ‘House of the Lord’.” The Biblical Archaeologist 53 (September 1990), 157-166.
Dobbs F. W. et al., Hebrew Inscriptions, texts from the Biblical Period of the Monarchy with Concordance, Yale University Press, New Haven (2005)
Goren, Yuval, Shmuel Aḥituv, Avner Ayalon, Miryam Bar-Matthews, Uzi Dahari, Michal Dayagi-Mendels, Aaron Demsky and Nadav Levin. “Authenticity examination of the ivory pomegranate bearing a palaeo-Hebrew dedication inscription from the Israel Museum.” Israel Exploration Journal 55, no 1 (2005), 3-20.
Goren. Yuval et al., “A Re-Examination of the Inscribed Ivory Pomegranate from the Israel Museum,” Israel Exploration Journal 55 (2005): 3-20.
Goren. Yuval et al., “The Inscribed Pomegranate from the Israel Museum Examined Again,” Israel Exploration Journal 57 (2007): 87-
Kempinski, Aharon. “Is It Really a Pomegranate from the ‘Temple of Yahweh?’” Qadmoniot 23 (1990), p. 126 (in Hebrew).
Lemaire, André. “A Re-examination of the Inscribed Pomegranate: A Rejoinder,” Israel Exploration Journal 56 (2006), 167-.
Lemaire, André. “Probable Head of Priestly Scepter from Solomon’s Temple Surfaces in Jerusalem,” Biblical Archaeology Review 10 no. 1 (January/February 1984), 24-29.
Lemaire, André. “Une inscription paleo-hebraique sur grenade en ivoire,” Revue Biblique 88 (1981): 236–39.
Shanks, Hershal. “The Pomegranate Scepter Head—From the Temple of the Lord or from a Temple of Asherah?” Biblical Archaeology Review 18, no. 3 (May/June 1992): 42-5.
Shanks, Hershel. “First Person: A New Target. ” November/December 2014 Biblical Archaeology Review 2014. http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/first-person-a-new-target/
Shanks, Hershel. “Pomegranate, Sole Relic from Solomon’s Temple, Smuggled out of Israel, Now Recovered.” Moment 13 (1988): 36-43.
Ward, Cheryl. “Pomegranates in Eastern Mediterranean Contexts during the Late Bronze Age.” World Archaeology 34, no. 3 (2002): 529-541.