Is the Vatican Hiding the Menorah? | Unpacked
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Shc9TnwgU

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0:00 - The menorah is an iconic, ancient Jewish symbol.
0:03 Pure gold and in the likeness of an almond tree, the lampstands first appearance
0:07 in scripture is in the tabernacle, the portable temple that Israelites traveled with
0:11 after they left Egypt, older even than the Star of David.
0:14 The menorah's seven branches symbolize the seven days of creation and embody the Jewish mission
0:18 to be a light unto the nations. From the Temples and the miracle of the oil
0:23 to the Arch of Titus and the Vatican's basement, the seven branched candelabra has quite the peculiar legacy.
0:28 Now the emblem of the modern State of Israel, the lampstand remains a powerful symbol of Jewish identity.
0:34 There's just one question. Where is it?
0:36 What happened to this religious vessel and why do some people believe the Vatican is hiding it?
0:42 Moses' menorah moved into King Solomon's Temple sometime between 967 and 961 BCE,
0:49 where it stayed for almost 400 years. Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II looted the temple
0:55 when he destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE and the menorah disappeared.
0:59 Some say it's awaiting discovery in Jerusalem, but it was most likely melted down for gold.
1:04 A new lampstand was placed in the Second Temple in 438 BCE where the high priest ensured the flames flickered 24/7.
1:12 That is, until the Seleucid Empire desecrated the Temple during the Maccabean Revolt and the menorah
1:17 was stolen once again. Following the Maccabees' victory against the Seleucids,
1:21 they used a temporary iron menorah to rededicate the Temple before a new gold menorah could be made.
1:26 Tradition has it that a one day supply of olive oil lasted the lamp for eight nights.
1:32 And while it's impossible to fact check that miracle, we can try putting one
1:35 of the greatest menorah conspiracy theories to the test. Straight out of the Da Vinci Code,
1:40 it's a fascinating theory. To understand the greatest menorah myth,
1:43 we have to revisit one of the saddest days in Jewish history.
1:46 During the climax of the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Roman army ransacked Jerusalem and the Second Temple
1:53 a scene immortalized on the Arch of Titus. Soldiers delivered loads of stolen Jewish treasures
1:58 to Rome, the priceless menorah chief among them. Flavius Josephus, a first century Jewish historian witnessed
2:05 the triumphal victory march and recorded the spoils of war housed in Rome's Temple of Peace.
2:10 According to Jewish tradition, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was the second eyewitness
2:14 to place the menorah in Rome. The Temple of Peace burned down over a century later
2:19 in 192 CE and that's when the theories kick into overdrive. One medieval legend claims that before the Temple of Peace
2:26 was destroyed, Roman Jews snatched the menorah and buried it at the bottom of the Tiber River.
2:30 Other theories suggest that the menorah somehow survived the Temple of Peace.
2:34 One has it that the Visigods stole it when they sacked Rome in 410 CE.
2:38 According to the ancient historian Procopius of Caesarea, it was buried with their King Alaric.
2:43 An intriguing theory but not what most historians believe to be the case.
2:47 Queue the 455 sacking of Rome. According to Byzantine historian, Theophanes the Confessor,
2:53 decades after the Visigoths trashed Rome, the vandals looted the menorah from a church
2:58 and brought it to Carthage in North Africa. Before long, in 534 CE,
3:03 the Byzantine army joined this "hot-potato-menorah" game and stole the Jewish treasure from Carthage
3:08 on the orders of Emperor Justinian in Constantinople. Here's where the history gets...tricky.
3:13 Procopius recorded that a Jewish man warned the emperor's adviser that the temple vessels were cursed
3:19 because they were taken from Jerusalem. He had a point:
3:21 every city that housed the menorah was destroyed. Totally spooked, Justinian came up with a plan.
3:26 He would move the menorah from the great palace of Constantinople and store it in the Nea Church
3:31 in Byzantine Jerusalem for all to see. Some historians believe the Nea church was built
3:36 with the purpose of storing Jewish treasures, while others hold that Emperor Justinian was set
3:41 on creating a temple grander than King Solomon's. Regardless, evidence to support the menorah's return
3:46 to Jerusalem is scant and the trail goes cold for almost 700 years.
3:50 This takes us to the Vatican theory. Here's the deal.
3:53 The 12th century Spanish Jewish traveler, Benjamin of Tudela, recorded in his diary that the Jews
3:59 of Rome knew the menorah and other temple treasures were stored in a cave beneath the Roman church.
4:04 Incredibly, a 1291 Mosaic claimed the Vatican, not only possess the menorah but the Ark of the Covenant
4:10 as well as two columns from the Second Temple. Over the past quarter century,
4:14 Israel's religious authorities made numerous attempts to ask the Pope about the menorahs whereabouts.
4:19 The Israel Antiquities Authority even sent a team to search the Vatican storerooms and found zilch.
4:25 But the theory lives on. It's never been disproven.
4:28 And the other option just isn't as exciting, that at some point in the menorahs long history
4:33 of getting pillaged, it was simply melted down to cold, hard gold.
4:36 Perhaps one day, this ancient treasure could be rediscovered or maybe there's even a bit of it
4:41 in that piece of gold jewelry you're wearing right now.