TEMPELSKATTEN

en här artikeln består mestadels av citat från antika och äldre källor, på engelska, men i slutet av artikeln kommer några konklusioner och reflektioner, på svenska.

Artikeln handlar om vad som hände med den tempelskatt som fördes bort från Jerusalem av romarna vid templets förstörelse, och det går att följa dess färd och öden ganska säkert genom århundradena. Särskilt intressant är den sjuarmade ljusstaken, Menoran, då den som framgår i Uppenbarelseboken har en profetisk effekt, som vi också skall se den ha i de citerade texterna.

Konklusionen till sist blir ganska eller rentav mycket fascinerande, men mer skall jag inte avslöja nu, utan den intresserade och kunskapshungrige lärjungen till Jesus får läsa och insupa det andliga innehållet, och förhoppningsvis bli motsvarande fascinerad, och förundrad, över Guds verk i historien.
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Vad hände med tempelskatten?

empelskatten, rövad från Jerusalem år 70, av Titus, fördes först till Rom, där den förvarades och visades, bl.a i "Fredens Tempel", tills Alarik och Visigoterna tog skatten med sig när de förstört Rom (delvis). Jordanes skriver om detta, och hur goterna begravde Alarik i en flod, tillsammans med (delar av?) skatten. Sedan skriver Prokopius, att goterna hade med sig av denna skatt till Carcassonnes i Frankrike (dvs det som senare blev Frankrike men då var visigoternas rike). Senare skall frankerna ha försökt ta skatten men misslyckats, men morerna kan ha fått med sig en del enligt en uppgift från Damaskus, Teoderik nämns också som en av dem som tog hand om skatten och skall ha fört den till Ravenna. Tempelriddare skall ha varit på platsen i Frankrike och letat efter denna skatt.
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From Samuel Ball Platner, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, rev. Thomas Ashby. Oxford: 1929, p. 386-388.

George Loring Brown - View of the Temple of Peace in the Roman Forum (1864).
Fredens Tempel låg i förgrunden av bilden. På skissen här bredvid syns templet till höger (T. Pacis).

The temple of Peace which was begun by Vespasian after the capture of Jerusalem in 71 A.D., and dedicated in 75 (Suet. Vesp. 9; Joseph. b. Iud. VII.5.7 (158); Cass. Dio LXV.15.1; Aur. Vict. Caes. 9.7; Ep. 9.8). It stood in the middle of the forum Pacis, north of the basilica Aemilia (Mart. I.2.8), probably at the junction of the modern Vie Alessandrina and dei Pozzi. Statius seems to ascribe the completion of this temple to Domitian (Silv. IV.3.17; cf. IV.1.13), but this emperor's claim may have had little foundation (cf. Suet. Dom. 5). Within the temple, or attached closely to it, was a library, bibliotheca Pacis (Gell. V.21.9; XVI.8.2; Boyd, 16-17, 36-37). In it were placed many of the treasures brought by Vespasian from Jerusalem, as well as famous works of Greek artists (Joseph. b. Iud. VII.5.7; Plin. NH XII.94; XXXIV.84; XXXV.102, 109; XXXVI.27, 58; Paus. VI.9.3; Iuv. IX.23; Hephaest. ap. Phot. Bibl. 149 32 Bekk.), and Pliny (NH XXXVI.102) speaks of it, the basilica Aemilia and the forum of Augustus, as the three most beautiful monuments in Rome.

Just before the death of Commodus, probably in 191, the temple was destroyed by fire (Cass. Dio LXXII.24.1; Galen, de comp. med. I.1), but it must have been restored, probably by Severus, for it is mentioned in the succeeding centuries as one of the most magnificent buildings in the city (Herod. I.14.2; Amm. Marcell. XVI.10.14; Hist. Aug. trig. tyr. 31.10). It gave its name to the fourth region of the city (Not. Reg. IV). In 408 there were seismic disturbances for seven successive days in the forum Pacis (Marcell. Comes, Chron. min. ed. Mommsen II.69: in foro Pacis per dies septem terra mugitum dedit), and the temple may have been injured then. At any rate Procopius (BG IV.21), writing in the sixth century, says that it had long since been destroyed by lightning, although there were still many works of art set up in the immediate vicinity.
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Kommentar: Att lägga märke till här, är att två år före Alariks angrepp på Rom, skakades Fredens Tempel av jordbävningar 7 dagar i rad.

Från Jordanes Getica, slutet av kap. XXX. Året är 410 eKr:

When they finally entered Rome, by Alaric's express command they merely sacked it and did not set the city on fire, as wild peoples usually do, nor did they permit serious damage to be done to the holy places. Thence they departed to bring like ruin upon Campania and Lucania, and then came to Bruttii. Here they remained a long time and planned to go to Sicily and thence to the countries of Africa. Now the land of the Bruttii is at the extreme southern bound of Italy , and a corner of it marks the beginning of the Apennine mountains. It stretches out like a tongue into the Adriatic Sea and separates it from the Tyrrhenian waters. It chanced to receive its name in ancient times from a Queen Bruttia. To this place came Alaric, king of the Visigoths, with the wealth of all Italy which he had taken as spoil, and from there, as we have said, he intended to cross over by way of Sicily to the quiet land of Africa. But since man is not free to do anything he wishes without the will of God, that dread strait sunk several of his ships and threw all into confusion. Alaric was cast down by his reverse and, while deliberating what he should do, was suddenly overtaken by an untimely death and departed from human cares. His people mourned for him with the utmost affection. Then turning from its course the river Busentus near the city of Consentia—for this stream flows with its wholesome waters from the foot of a mountain near that city—they led a band of captives into the midst of its bed to dig out a place for his grave. In the depths of this pit they buried Alaric, together with many treasures, and then turned the waters back into their channel. And that none might ever know the place, they put to death all the diggers. They bestowed the kingdom of the Visigoths on Athavulf his kinsman, a a man of imposing beauty and great spirit; for though not tall of stature, he was distinguished for beauty of face and form.

The Sack of Rome, av Andre Durenceao (National Geographic).

XXXI When Athavulf became king, he returned again to Rome, and whatever had escaped the first sack his Goths stripped bare like locusts, not merely despoiling Italy of its private wealth, but even of its public resources. The Emperor Honorius was powerless to resist even when his sister Placidia, the daughter of the Emperor Theodosius by his second wife, was led away captive from the city. But Athavulf was attracted by her nobility, beauty and chaste purity, and so he took her to wife in lawful marriage at Forum Julii, a city of Aemilia. When the barbarians learned of this alliance, they were the more effectually terrified, since the Empire and the Goths now seemed to be made one. Then Athavulf set out for Gaul, leaving Honorius Augustus stripped of his wealth, to be sure, yet pleased at heart because he was now a sort of kinsman of his.
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"Though not tall of stature..." Det här tyder på att Visigoterna eller i alla fall dera kungar kan ha varit halvjättar, och i så fall på ena eller andra förfaderssidan ättlingar till de verkliga jättarna.
I Heimskringla framgår det att Ynglingaätten ofta gifte sig med de nordiska jättinnorna, så om goternas förfäder, som troligen var av samma ätt eller nära besläktade, också gjorde det, vid tillfälle, kan de alltså ha varit kanske 7 fot vid den här tiden.
Burgunderna i det som skulle bli östra Frankrike, också nära släkt med goterna och utvandrade från Bornholm, omvittnas av en romersk historieskrivare, ha varit 7 fot långa (och deras rapningar öronbedövande).
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(Fetstilen i texten ovan liksom i det följande är inlagd av mig för förtydligande.)

Från Prokopius Wars, bok 3, kap. II:

But I shall now tell how Alaric captured Rome.

After much time had been spent by him in the siege, and he had not been able either by force or by any other device to capture the place, he formed the following plan. Among the youths in the army whose beards had not yet grown, but who had just come of age, he chose out three hundred whom he knew to be of good birth and possessed of valour beyond their years, and told them secretly that he was about to make a present of them to certain of the patricians in Rome, pretending that they were slaves. And he instructed them that, as soon as they got inside the houses of those men, they should display much gentleness and moderation and serve them eagerly in whatever tasks should be laid upon them by their owners; and he further directed them that not long afterwards, on an appointed day at about midday, when all those who were to be their masters would most likely be already asleep after their meal, they should all come to the gate called Salarian and with a sudden rush kill the guards, who would have no previous knowledge of the plot, and open the gates as quickly as possible. After giving these orders to the youths, Alaric straightway sent ambassadors to the members of the senate, stating that he admired them for their loyalty toward their emperor, and that he would trouble them no longer, because of their valour and faithfulness, with which it was plain that they were endowed to a remarkable degree, and in order that tokens of himself might be preserved among men both noble and brave, he wished to present each one of them with some domestics. After making this declaration and sending the youths not long afterwards, he commanded the barbarians to make preparations for the departure, and he let this be known to the Romans. And they heard his words gladly, and receiving the gifts began to be exceedingly happy, since they were completely ignorant of the plot of the barbarian. For the youths, by being unusually obedient to their owners, averted suspicion, and in the camp some were already seen moving from their positions and raising the siege, while it seemed that the others were just on the point of doing the very same thing. But when the appointed day had come, Alaric armed his whole force for the attack and was holding them in readiness close by the Salarian Gate; for it happened that he had encamped there at the beginning of the siege. Aug. 24, 410 A.D. And all the youths at the time of the day agreed upon came to this gate, and, assailing the guards suddenly, put them to death; then they opened the gates and received Alaric and the army into the city at their leisure. And they set fire to the houses which were next to the gate, among which was also the house of Sallust, who in ancient times wrote the history of the Romans, and the greater part of this house has stood half-burned up to my time; and after plundering the whole city and destroying the most of the Romans, they moved on. At that time they say that the Emperor Honorius in Ravenna received the message from one of the eunuchs, evidently a keeper of the poultry, that Rome had perished. And he cried out and said, "And yet it has just eaten from my hands!" For he had a very large cock, Rome by name; and the eunuch comprehending his words said that it was the city of Rome which had perished at the hands of Alaric, and the emperor with a sigh of relief answered quickly: "But I, my good fellow, thought that my fowl Rome had perished." So great, they say, was the folly with which this emperor was possessed.

But some say that Rome was not captured in this way by Alaric, but that Proba, a woman of very unusual eminence in wealth and in fame among the Roman senatorial class, felt pity for the Romans who were being destroyed by hunger and the other suffering they endured; for they were already even tasting each other's flesh; and seeing that every good hope had left them, since both the river and the harbour were held by the enemy, she commanded her domestics, they say, to open the gates by night.

Now when Alaric was about to depart from Rome, he declared Attalus, one of their nobles, emperor of the Romans, investing him with the diadem and the purple and whatever else pertains to the imperial dignity. And he did this with the intention of removing Honorius from his throne and of giving over the whole power in the West to Attalus. With such a purpose, then, both Attalus and Alaric were going with a great army against Ravenna. But this Attalus was neither able to think wisely himself, nor to be persuaded by one who had wisdom to offer. So while Alaric did not by any means approve the plan, Attalus sent commanders to Libya without an army. Thus, then, were these things going on.

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"The burial of Alaric in the bed of Busentinus"

And afterwards Alaric died of disease, and the army of the Visigoths under the leadership of Adaulphus proceeded into Gaul, and Constantinus, defeated in battle, died with his sons.

...

Efter dessa två plundringar av Rom, förflyter 45 år, och sedan kommer vandalerna, från Kartago, och plundrar Rom ännu en gång (år 455):

And Gizeric, for no other reason than that he suspected that much money would come to him, set sail for Italy with a great fleet. And going up to Rome, since no one stood in his way, he took possession of the palace. Now while Maximus was trying to flee, the Romans threw stones at him and killed him, and they cut off his head and each of his other members and divided them among themselves. But Gizeric took Eudoxia captive, together with Eudocia and Placidia, the children of herself and Valentinian, and placing an exceedingly great amount of gold and other imperial treasure in his ships sailed to Carthage, having spared neither bronze nor anything else whatsoever in the palace. He plundered also the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, and tore off half of the roof. Now this roof was of bronze of the finest quality, and since gold was laid over it exceedingly thick, it shone as a magnificent and wonderful spectacle. But of the ships with Gizeric, one, which was bearing the statues, was lost, they say, but with all the others the Vandals reached port in the harbour of Carthage.

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I bok 5 skriver Prokopius igen om denna sak, och nämner här fler detaljer:

507 a.d.

Det medeltida Carcassonne, som det såg ut 1834, innan senare restaureringar

Then they [frankerna, här kallade germaner] took possession of the greater part of Gaul and held it; and they laid siege to Carcasiana with great enthusiasm, because they had learned that the royal treasure was there, which Alaric the elder in earlier times had taken as booty when he captured Rome.[57] Among these were also the treasures of Solomon, the king of the Hebrews, a most noteworthy sight. For the most of them were adorned with emeralds; and they had been taken from Jerusalem by the Romans in ancient times.[58] Then the survivors of the Visigoths declared Giselic, an illegitimate son of Alaric, ruler over them, Amalaric, the son of Theoderic's daughter, being still a very young child. And afterwards, when Theoderic had come with the army of the Goths, the Germans became afraid and broke up the siege. So they retired from there and took possession of the part of Gaul beyond the Rhone River as far as the [131]ocean. And Theoderic, being unable to drive them out from there, allowed them to hold this territory, but he himself recovered the rest of Gaul. Then, after Giselic had been put out of the way, he conferred the rule of the Visigoths upon his grandson Amalaric, for whom, since he was still a child, he himself acted as regent. And taking all the money which lay in the city of Carcasiana, he marched quickly back to Ravenna; furthermore, he continued to send commanders and armies into Gaul and Spain, thus holding the real power of the government himself, and by way of providing that he should hold it securely and permanently, he ordained that the rulers of those countries should bring tribute to him. And though he received this every year, in order not to give the appearance of being greedy for money he sent it as an annual gift to the army of the Goths and Visigoths. And as a result of this, the Goths and Visigoths, as time went on, ruled as they were by one man and holding the same land, betrothed their children to one another and thus joined the two races in kinship.

[57]Cf. Book III. ii. 14-24.
[58]At the capture of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 a.d. The treasures here mentioned were removed from Rome in 410 a.d. The remainder of the Jewish treasure formed part of the spoil of Gizeric, the Vandal. Cf. Book IV. ix. 5 and note.

Det framgår alltså här att Alarik, som den förste att plundra Rom, bara hade lämnat kvar vissa av föremålen från templet. Skall vi tro att han lämnade kvar det dyrbaraste av alltsammans?
(Säger detta för att det finns en allmänt utbredd uppfattning att det var vandalerna som tog Menoran och de andra tempelföremålen från Rom. Som synes nedan tog de säkert vissa av dessa föremål, men i så fall bara vad som lämnats kvar av Alarik och Ataulf. Som sagt, varför skulle Visigoterna ha lämnat kvar de dyrbaraste föremålen av tempelskatten?)
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Så, åren 532-533 händer detta:

Belisarius, upon reaching Byzantium with Gelimer and the Vandals, was counted worthy to receive such honours, as in former times were assigned to those generals of the Romans who had won the greatest and most noteworthy victories. And a period of about six hundred years had now passed since anyone had attained these honours,[26] except, indeed, Titus and Trajan, and such other emperors as had led armies against some barbarian nation and had been victorious. For he displayed the spoils and slaves from the war in the midst of the city and led a procession which the Romans call a "triumph," not, however, in the ancient manner, but going on foot from his own house to the hippodrome and then again from the barriers until he reached the place where the imperial throne is. And there was booty,—first of all, whatever articles are wont to be set apart for the royal service,—thrones of gold and carriages in which it is customary for a king's consort to ride, and much jewelry made of precious stones, and golden drinking cups, and all the other things which are useful for the royal table. And there was also silver weighing many thousands of talents and all the royal treasure amounting to an exceedingly great sum (for Gizeric had despoiled the Palatium in Rome, as has been said in the preceding narrative),[28] and among these were the treasures of the Jews, which Titus, the son of Vespasian, together with certain others, had brought to Rome after the capture of Jerusalem. And one of the Jews, seeing these things, approached one of those known to the emperor and said: "These treasures I think it inexpedient to carry into the palace in Byzantium. Indeed, it is not possible for them to be elsewhere than in the place where Solomon, the king of the Jews, formerly placed them. For it is because of these that Gizeric captured the palace of the Romans, and that now the Roman army has captured that the Vandals." When this had been brought to the ears of the Emperor, he became afraid and quickly sent everything to the sanctuaries of the Christians in Jerusalem.

[28] Cf. Book III. v. 3; that was in A.D. 455. The spoliation of Jerusalem by Titus had taken place in A.D. 70.
(PROCOPIUS - HISTORY OF THE WARS, BOOKS III AND IV)

Prokopius säger inget detaljerat om Alariks intagande av Rom, dvs angående vad som plundrades, bara att han och hans armé plundrade Rom, och sedan begav sig iväg. (kap. II)
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Så här skrev Gibbon om saken:

Since the abolition of Paganism, the Capitol had been violated and abandoned; yet the statues of the gods and heroes were still respected, and the curious roof of gilt bronze was reserved for the rapacious hands of Genseric. (7) The holy instruments of the Jewish worship,(8) the gold table, and the gold candlestick with seven branches, originally framed according to the particular instructions of God himself, and which were placed in the sanctuary of his temple, had been ostentatiously displayed to the Roman people in the triumph of Titus. They were afterwards deposited in the temple of Peace; and at the end of four hundred years, the spoils of Jerusalem were transferred from Rome to Carthage, by a barbarian who derived his origin from the shores of the Baltic. These ancient monuments might attract the notice of curiosity as well as of avarice. But the Christian churches, enriched and adorned by the prevailing superstition of the times, afforded more plentiful materials for sacrilege; and the pious liberality of pope Leo, who melted six silver vases, the gift of Constantine, each of an hundred pounds weight, is an evidence of the damage which he attempted to repair. In the forty-five years that had elapsed since the Gothic invasion, the pomp and luxury of Rome were in some measure restored; and it was difficult either to escape, or to satisfy, the avarice of a conqueror who possessed leisure to collect, and ships to transport, the wealth of the capital. The Imperial ornaments of the palace, the magnificent furniture and wardrobe, the sideboards of massy plate, were accumulated with disorderly rapine: the gold and silver amounted to several thousand talents; yet even the brass and copper were laboriously removed. Eudoxia herself, who advanced to meet her friend and deliverer, soon bewailed the imprudence of her own conduct. She was rudely stripped of her jewels; and the unfortunate empress, with her two daughters, the only surviving remains of the great Theodosius, was compelled, as a captive, to follow the haughty Vandal, who immediately hoisted sail, and returned with a prosperous navigation to the port of Carthage.(9)

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Tidslinje:

Därefter är det i stort sett tyst om tempelskatten, vilket antyder att den blivit gömd någonstans. Frågan är var.
Judarna tror att den är i Rom (tillbaka efter plundringarna, eller att den aldrig lämnade staden).
Många tror att den är gömd i någon grotta i Carcassonne.
Andra tror att den hittades av tempelriddarna och fördes av dem till Skottland, eller Amerika.

Ljusstaken och "dess plats" ("tou topou") idag

Så på 400-talet, när församlingen i Rom hade gjort det fatala misstaget att bli statskyrka åt Konstantin, och dessutom var på fallrepet sedan en tid, andligt, och mer eller mindre blivit avfällig, dvs lampan hade slocknat, då hände det följande: Folk från den norra delen av Europa började översvämma det romerska riket, och 410 kom Alarik med sina visigoter och intog Rom, och menoran flyttades igen, bort från Rom denna gång, och till Visigoternas rike i nuv. Frankrike. Och detta motsvarar vad som skedde parallellt andligt, nu började kristendomen spridas norrut, och många väckelserörelser, fria från Roms inflytande uppstod, i de germanska länderna. Lampan lyste nu alltså längre norrut, därför att den fysiska menoran fanns där, inte pga menoran själv givetvis, men pga att den användes av Gud som ett parallellverkande, profetiskt objekt. (Eller som ett yttre tecken på vad som skedde andligt.)

Så var finns den idag? Ja, var finns det starkaste ljuset, idag? Efter att väckelserörelserna gått genom den germanska världen, övergick det andliga skeendet och initiativet, till de brittiska öarna. Så kan menoran ha flyttats till England, och kanske Skottland, som vissa spekulerar?

Och sedan vidare till den kontinent, som sedan 1700-1800-talet, haft det starkaste andliga ljuset - dvs USA? Det finns vissa saker som tyder på att så kan ha skett, men inte med den avsikt "förflyttarna" hade, men Gud i sin vishet och sitt förutseende lät det ske, för att han visste att han i slutändan skulle få SIN vilja igenom, ändå.

Menoran och kanske mer av den judiska tempelskatten, skulle alltså befinna sig i Amerika? Det finns mycket spekulationer om just detta, bl.a annat spekulerar man om skatten kan befinna sig, nedgrävd, på Oak Island, i Nova Scotia, i Kanada, nära gränsen till USA. Den kan också ha flyttats därifrån till en plats kallad Fredens Trädgård, precis vid gränsen mellan USA och Kanada. Det intressanta med denna plats, är att om det dras en linje på kartan, från Fredens tempel i Rom, längs med den gata där det fanns och där de verkligt betydelsefulla palatsen och templen fanns, i Rom, så går denna linje tvärs över jordklotet, och kommer till Fredens Trädgård, i USA. Och det finns kopplingar mellan dem som byggde denna plats och frimureriet, och Sir Francis Drake, tempelriddarna, m.m., som antyder att dessa mer eller mindre hemliga grupper haft kännedom om tempelskatten, ända tillbaka sedan Alariks dagar. Och som sagt, om än deras syften kanhända varit av det dunklare slaget, jag säger kanhända, för man vet inte vad som rör sig i deras hjärtan riktigt, och Gud säger han kan vända på konungarnas hjärtan som vattenbäckar, så har alltså Guds vilja skett, precis som t.ex skedde när Josefs bröder sålde Josef som slav, och räddade därmed hela sin släkt, från svältdöden, utan att själva veta om det eller förstå det.

Om Gud använde romarna för att föra menoran till Rom, och ljuset från himlen började sprida sig där, så kan han givetvis också ha använt sig av hemliga ordnar, för att föra ljusstaken vidare, dem ovetandes om vad Gud hade för planer. Kan de ha hemligheter, så kan Gud ha det också. Det såg vi ju bl.a i det att fienden blev lurad att korsfästa Jesus, Gud för alltså sin vilja fram, och använder både vänner och fiender, för att hans goda vilja skall ske, och bli fullbordad, till slut.

Kanske står menoran och lyser någonstans, i något källarvalv, fortfarande, nu på den amerikanska kontinenten.
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Juli Månad, i Nådens år 2023

Änglar och UFO, del 68

Tempelskatten

1. Om dess öden och förflyttningar genom århundradena efter år 70 e.Kr.

Inledning

Vad hände med tempelskatten?

Tidslinje:

Ljusstaken och "dess plats" ("tou topou") idag

Jesus

Morgondagen har ingen sett

IDAG

är frälsningens dag