Archaeologists digging near Mount Carmel have discovered a fragment of a glass bracelet bearing an inscription of a seven-branched menorah. The artifact was found in what appears to been an industrial area within a town that existed in the 4th and 5th centuries B.C.E. Daniel Eisenbud writes:
The researchers . . . believe the bracelet was embossed with the decoration while the glass was still hot. “Stamped impressions of two menorahs survived on the small fragment that was found—one a plain seven-branched menorah, of which only the surface of the menorah is visible, and the other one consisting of a seven-branched menorah with flames depicted above its branches,” they said.
According to Yael Gorin-Rosen, . . . “bracelets and pendants made of glass that are decorated with symbols of a menorah or lion or different images of gods and animals are known during these periods in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. So far, three fragments of bracelets with menorah decorations have been discovered in archaeological excavations in the country: in an excavation at Bab el-Hawa in the northern Golan Heights, at Banias, and another bracelet that was discovered years ago in the excavations at Shiqmona, Haifa.”
Read more on Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Antiquities-Authority-finds-1600-year-old-glass-bracelet-with-menorah-inscription-385497