QUICK FACTS
Name: Magdala stone
What it is: Carved stone block
Where it is from: Magdala Synagogue, Israel
When it was made: Before A.D. 70
In 2009, Israeli archaeologists uncovered a massive stone in an ancient synagogue near the Sea of Galilee — and it had an ancient menorah carved into it. Only a handful of depictions of menorahs exist from the Second Temple period, which ended in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed both the temple and Jerusalem, and the Magdala stone may be the earliest of them all.
