Why did a 2,000-year-old gold find roll into the dental clinic and how is it related to Yom Kippur?
"The only find we have today that was probably right inside the Holy of Holies - a gold bell from the time of the Second Temple, which was discovered in the excavations of the City of David," said the archaeologist Eli Shukron who led the excavation where the rare find was discovered.
The foundations of the Western Wall, aroused the curiosity of researchers who decided to examine its contents in a surprising way - by taking an X-ray in a dental clinic.
In the excavations conducted by the Antiquities Authority about a decade ago in the foundations of the Western Wall, north of the City of David, a small bell made of pure gold was discovered.
X-ray at the dental clinic, photo: Dr. Yossi Volnerman
"When I held the small find in my hand, I heard it rustling," said the archaeologist Shukron, "I knew what it looked like on the outside, but I also wanted to know what it looked like on the inside, so I took it to the dentist for an X-ray."
According to him, this is one of the most special findings discovered to date in the City of David excavations.
When the results of the X-rays were received - the researchers were in for a surprise: inside the find was hidden an inbal that was the source of the sound the archaeologist heard.
In the book of Exodus, chapter 28, the high priest's robe is described: "...and golden bells in the middle of them around" and on this verse there is a dispute among Bible commentators regarding the meaning of the word "in them". According to Rashi's method, the bells hung next to the pomegranates: a bell next to a pomegranate, A bell next to a pomegranate on the hem of the high priest's coat.
The golden bell from the time of the Second Temple, photo: Dr. Yossi Volnerman
According to the Ramban, it was about bells that were inside the pomegranates themselves: a bell inside a pomegranate. "Who would bother to do such a job? To close an inbal that rattles inside a pomegranate?" wonders Dr. Yossi Wallnerman, the dentist in whose clinic the photographs were taken.
"Thanks to the x-rays, we realized that we are probably holding one of the 72 bells that were hanging on the hem of the high priest's coat," Shukron said excitedly.
According to the archaeologist: "Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies."
If so, it can be said that this is the only find we have today that was probably right inside the Holy of Holies.
After over 1,000 years, the dispute between the interpreters of the Bible - has come to a solution.'
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