DID YOU KNOW THAT... The High Priest garment bells

Did you know that,

recent excavations in Jerusalem unearthed a tiny gold bell which might be one the High Priest garment bells, as mentioned in the Bible:

In the summer of 2011, Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich from Haifa University were excavating the water drainage channel , which collected rain water in the city in the times of Second Temple (1st century CE). The gold bell, approximately 1/2 inch in diameter was discovered in the earth layers at the bottom of the channel. As the main street of Jerusalem was located above the channel and served as the entry point toTemple Mount, it appears that the bell could have fallen from the garment of high official walking towards the Temple and lost in the frainage channel beneath the road.

We cannot be sure who was wearing this particular gold bell and lost it 2000 years ago for us to discover. We do learn from the Bible (Exodus  ) that high priests of the Temple had a gold bell hanging from the fringes of their garment. Here is what it says about high priest Aaron's robe:

“All of blue…it shall have a binding of woven work …And upon the skirts of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the skirts thereof; and bells of gold between them round about”.

sources: Israel Antiquities Authority, BAS 38:03 2012, Jewish Virtual library

DID YOU KNOW THAT... King Solomon Tokens

As early as in 6-7 century AD christian pilgrims were carrying King Solomon talismans. The simplest of those talismans were made of clay and measured only half an inch.Those Solomon charms (properly called Eulogiai or Blessings) carried the name of Solomon and a drawing of Solomonic roots that have the power to dispossess demons and cure diseases. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus tells of a man who was cured of a demonic spell when a shaman pronounced Solomon’s name and had the possessed man inhale from “a ring which had under its seal one of the roots prescribed by Solomon.” The Solomon charms were meant to assure a pilgrim of safety. Sometimes, to get the proper effect, the eulogia was rubbed or scraped. In the Byzantine period, the burial place of Solomon and David was believed to be about a half mile from Bethlehem. This is where these charms were probably manufactured and sold to pilgrims. 

Great news: Soon it will be possible to purchase similar tokens from my website:

www.jewels-empire.com.

Let me know if you are interested!

Source: Solomon’s Blessings by Hershel Shanks, BAS 27:05 Sep-Oct 2001