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BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY

SMALL BUT MEANINGFUL. Measuring only 1.5 inches high, the ivory pomegranate bears a larger-than-life inscription, which reads “(Belonging) to the temple of [Yahwe]h, holy to the priests.” An Israel Antiquities Authority committee declared the pomegranate a forgery, despite having been previously authenticated by several leading experts. If authentic, this may be the only surviving relic from Solomon’s Temple. Here, paleographers Ada Yardeni and André Lemaire examine an enlarged image of the ivory pomegranate at the Israel Museum in 2015.