Ivory Pomegranate

Overview

The Ivory Pomegranate is a small ivory object carved in the shape of a pomegranate, with an inscription on its shoulder that reads “[Belonging] to the Tem[ple of Yahwe]h, holy to the priests.” Because of that inscription it was once believed to have come from the temple King Solomon built in Jerusalem, but a committee of experts has since judged the ivory genuine and the inscription a modern forgery. The pomegranate itself is a symbol that appears elsewhere in Israelite art, including on the hem of the high priest's robe and in temple decoration (cf. Exodus 28:33-34).

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Historical Context

Eran Arie, writing in the Israel Museum's journal, dates the ivory itself to the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BC), before the time of Solomon, from its size and its shape as a pomegranate in its blossom stage, while the script of the inscription has been dated to the eighth century BC. The pomegranate motif was widespread in the ancient Near East.

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Archaeological Evidence and Provenance

The object was not found in an excavation but surfaced on the antiquities market: the French epigrapher André Lemaire came upon it in a Jerusalem antiquities shop in the summer of 1979, and the Israel Museum bought it in 1988. It is carved from hippopotamus ivory and stands 1.7 inches (4.3 cm) high.

The committee's finding came to light in 2004, and its report appeared in the Israel Exploration Journal in 2005. Christopher Rollston, writing in a 2015 volume from SBL Press, describes a growing number of scholars who hold the inscription to be a modern forgery, while Lemaire still contends that it is ancient.

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Theological and Cultural Significance

Arie concludes that the ivory was never used “as anything related to the Temple in Jerusalem,” and that the inscription was an attempt to tie it to worship.

Because the pomegranate appears in the biblical descriptions of sacred objects (e.g., the capitals of the pillars Jachin and Boaz in Solomon’s Temple), it also resonates thematically with Scripture.