Temple Treasures

The Monastery of the Cross sparked storytellers’ imaginations, generating fantastic tales of lost Temple treasures hidden beneath its floors

Temple Treasures 

A Jerusalem folktale relates that five hundred years after the wicked Romans destroyed the Temple and carried its vessels off to Rome, Byzantine emperor Justinian conquered Rome in turn. After presumably touring the Colosseum and enjoying a quick shopping spree around the Porte Portese market, the Byzantine commander in chief wrapped up the stolen Temple treasures and brought them back to Jerusalem, where they belonged. He constructed the Nea (New) Church to house them, displaying the golden menorah and other precious items in the basement, where they could be appreciated by those in the know. 

In 614, when the Sassanian Persians attacked Jerusalem, they headed straight for the Nea to recover the Jewish booty, hoping its sale would cover the high costs of the war plus a little to spare. Much to their disappointment, there wasn’t a hint of gold to be found, not even hidden in the walls, which they tore apart in frustration. 

Ten years on, when Byzantine armies displaced the Persians, the mystery was solved. Realizing that his ill-gotten goods (pilfered from the Romans, who’d pilfered them from the Judeans) were likely to be taken from him too, Justinian had secretly transferred the treasures to the cellars of the Monastery of the Cross, outside the city. 

This tale was of course of little benefit to the monks when their Arab conquerors stormed the monastery some two hundred years later, demanding the Temple hoard. Interrogated under the ethical code of Hannibal and Genghis Khan, the unfortunate brethren had nothing to reveal and were butchered to the last man. Any clue as to the treasures’ whereabouts died with them, only to surface recently in an Israeli children’s story set in the Monastery of the Cross.