Temple Menorah in Vatican Vaults?

An amazing notice appeared in the January 27, 1996, edition of the Jerusalem Post International. Reporter Lisa Palmieri-Billig wrote that Israel's Religious Affairs Minister Shimon Shetreet had asked the Vatican's cooperation in locating the 132 pound menorah of the Second Temple. It is generally believed the menorah was brought by Titus to Rome in AD 70. Shetreet claimed recent research at the University of Florence indicated the menorah might be among the treasures of the Vatican's catacombs.

'I don't say it's there for sure,' he said, 'but I asked the pope to help in the search as a goodwill gesture in recognition of the improved relations between Catholics and Jews.'

'A seven branched candlestick is carved in relief on the Arch of Titus. This monument to Rome's sack of Jerusalem depicts Roman soldiers carrying away various vessels of the Jewish Temple.'