Mosaic of Menorah
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The Hammam Lif Synagogue
A large mosaic found at the Tunisian town of Hammam Lif is so closely aligned with regional conventions that its structure was first identified as a Byzantine church. The presence of a Latin dedicatory inscription identifying the site as "Sancta Sinagoga" (Holy Synagogue), flanked by two Menorahs, revealed that it was a synagogue. The floor consisted of four mosaic carpets, integrating distinctly Jewish symbolism with popular motifs of the period, including a lion.
The menorah was the primary symbol of Judaism in the late Antique and early Islamic worlds and is represented here in a manner that resembles depictions in synagogue mosaics and on liturgical objects from the Byzantine sphere. The two menorah panels flanked the Latin inscription on the synagogue’s floor.
A large mosaic found at the Tunisian town of Hammam Lif is so closely aligned with regional conventions that its structure was first identified as a Byzantine church. The presence of a Latin dedicatory inscription identifying the site as "Sancta Sinagoga" (Holy Synagogue), flanked by two Menorahs, revealed that it was a synagogue. The floor consisted of four mosaic carpets, integrating distinctly Jewish symbolism with popular motifs of the period, including a lion.
The menorah was the primary symbol of Judaism in the late Antique and early Islamic worlds and is represented here in a manner that resembles depictions in synagogue mosaics and on liturgical objects from the Byzantine sphere. The two menorah panels flanked the Latin inscription on the synagogue’s floor.
Artwork Details
- Title: Mosaic of Menorah
- Date: 6th century
- Geography: Made in Tunisia, excavated Hammam Lif Synagogue
- Culture: North African (Hammam Lif, Tunisia)
- Medium: Stone tesserae
- Dimensions: 22 7/16 × 35 1/4 × 1 3/4 in., 109.5 lb. (57 × 89.5 × 4.4 cm, 49.7 kg)
- Classification: Mosaics
- Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum, New York, Museum Collection Fund (05.27)
- Rights and Reproduction: Photo by Brooklyn Museum
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters