The Lost Catacomb by Shifra Hochberg Page B

layers of glass and divided into
two semicircular fields, each with its own pictorial design.    The glasses were used primarily
for decorative purposes and only occasionally as actual drinking vessels.   But as grave markers, the bases were regarded
as protective icons, meant to guard the dead from evil spirits.
    “ Bruno, ” Nicola
called out excitedly, tapping him on the shoulder, “ look at
this.   I ’ ve never
seen this type of design on a gold glass before, and believe me, I ’ ve
examined scores of these on my visits to Rome."
    He turned towards her and looked carefully.   One of the etchings on the base of the
first glass portrayed a large, elaborately columned building, while the other
depicted a candelabrum and a crucifix.   The second glass bore a completely different, but equally mystifying
design.   One half of the base seemed
to portray long rows of marching figures, dressed in simple short togas, while
the other half bore engravings of trumpets and lyres, with what appeared to be
a Star of David at their center, intertwined with a fish.
    “ You're
right.   This is very
peculiar, ” Bruno
commented after a moment.   “ I ’ ve never
come across anything like it before.   It seems to repeat the Judaeo-Christian motifs, or at least the
startling combination that we ’ re finding in the frescoes. ”
    He paused and then suggested tentatively, “ You know,
the truth is, that for someone with a Jewish background, maybe it ’ s really
not that difficult to decipher some of these symbols. ”
    “ What do
you mean? ” Nicola
asked.
    “ Well, look, ” Bruno
began to explain.   “ The
candelabrum or Menorah is a ceremonial object dating back to the Holy
Temple in Jerusalem.   It had seven
branches and was lit on a daily basis as part of the priestly ritual.   Later, after the miracle of Hanukkah ”— and
here he looked at her inquiringly —“ you remember, when one small cruse of oil lasted for eight
days, after the Maccabees purified the Temple — it was
changed into an eight-branched icon, symbolizing the eight days of the holiday,
with an added receptacle from which the others were lit, for a total of nine
branches.
    “ What ’ s
interesting in this etching, ” he
said, pointing to the gold glass, “ is that the candelabrum has seven branches, not nine, which
leads me to suspect that it ’ s supposed to represent the original Menorah in the
Temple, and not the one that was used on Hanukkah .   And by the way, the candelabrum in the
fresco over there is identical.   It
also has only seven branches. ”
    “ Okay, ” Nicola
replied, “ but what about the crucifix that appears alongside it?   What connection could there possibly
be?    And what do you make of
the building with all those columns on the other side of the base?   Could it be a palace or a pagan temple
of some sort?   I mean, could we have
a mixture of pagan, Christian, and Jewish elements?   After all, the original catacombs here
at the Vigna Randanini started out as a pagan underground cemetery before they
were converted into a Jewish crypt. ”
    “ Truthfully,
I ’ m not
sure, ” Bruno
answered.   “ We need to
think about it.   And we haven ’ t even
begun to address the issue of the second gold glass base.   The marching figures, the musical
instruments, the Star of David, the fish.   The star is clearly Jewish, and the fish obviously represents
Christ.   But as for the rest .   .   .   I have some ideas, but I
want to mull them over and check some references at home.
    “ In the
meantime, let ’ s take a closer look at the two sarcophagi, ” he said.
    Unlike the other graves in this particular crypt, these
were the only two coffins resting in the niches of the wall.   All the other recesses had been bricked
up, covered by simple marble plaques bearing only vague clues attesting to the
identity of those long gone sleepers in the dust.   Both sarcophagi had apparently been made
of polished