The ‘Arch of Titus’ was built in 81 AD by the Roman Emperor Domitian Caesar to commemorate his elder brother Titus Caesar's victories. The monumental arch is 15.4 meters tall, 13.5 meters wide, and 4.75 meters deep, and has three internal panels. The architectural style of the arch is called ‘composite order’. The arch has served as a general model for many of the triumphal arches erected around the world, including the 1806 ‘Arc de Triomphe’ in Paris and the 1931 ‘India Gate’ of New Delhi.
However, the structure’s biblical significance lies with its association to the siege of Jerusalem (70 AD) that marked the beginning of Jewish Diaspora. The event has been symbolically represented with Titus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem in one of the three panel reliefs of the arch (the other two show Titus’ triumphal ride on a chariot, and his deification). The panel depicts the spoils taken from the ‘Jerusalem Temple’ after it was destroyed by the Roman army under the command of Titus in the first century AD. Many Jews refuse to walk under the Arch of Titus for this reason. However, in 1948 when modern state of Israel was established, the Jews of Rome walked under the arch, but in the opposite direction from that of the conquering Roman army entered the city to symbolize the return of Jews to Jerusalem.
The relief represents Roman soldiers crowned with laurels, carrying the spoils of the Temple of Jerusalem, which are identified as:
1) The two stone law tablets fastened on staffs (the ten commandments of Moses)
2) The golden seven-branched candlestick (menorah)
3) The golden ‘table of showbread’
4) The sacred silver trumpets of Jerusalem Temple.
The first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus recorded Jerusalem Temple’s sacred treasures, including the menorah being brought to Rome during the triumph of Titus. The current whereabouts of these sacred objects are unknown. There are several interesting legends and conspiracy theories surrounding their current locations. One such candidate is Vatican itself, where some secret chambers are said to secretly hold these sacred treasures. There are even reports about senior Israeli officials, Rabbis and even former Israeli President Moshe Katzav demanding the Pope to return the menorah to Israel!
Until 2009, when the ruins of a synagogue from the Second Temple period (50 BC-100 AD) were discovered in Magdala in Israel, the Arch of Titus preserved the earliest representation of the menorah of the Jerusalem Temple. The menorah depicted on the Arch of Titus served as the model for the menorah used on the official emblem of the modern state of Israel.
A recent study (The Arch of Titus Restoration Project) undertaken by the New York based Yeshiva University using advanced scanning and spectrometric methods has revealed that the menorah on the Arch of Titus was originally painted in a rich golden yellow colour and the current image faded to the color of its underlying stone long ago. The Bible records the menorah as being made of pure solid gold, and no wonder it was painted in bright yellow in the Arch of Titus that would have looked like gold from far away (see more here).
A recent study (The Arch of Titus Restoration Project) undertaken by the New York based Yeshiva University using advanced scanning and spectrometric methods has revealed that the menorah on the Arch of Titus was originally painted in a rich golden yellow colour and the current image faded to the color of its underlying stone long ago. The Bible records the menorah as being made of pure solid gold, and no wonder it was painted in bright yellow in the Arch of Titus that would have looked like gold from far away (see more here).
31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:
33 Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
34 And in the candlesticks shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
35 And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.
36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.
37 And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.
38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
(Exodus 25:31-40).
