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
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