Between Menorah and Minaret.

The article examines the parallel religious symbols of the menorah in Judaism and the minaret in Islam, focusing on their morphological similarity and ritual significance across Jewish, Islamic, and Christian contexts from antiquity to the present. It traces the menorah’s origins as a seven-branched candelabra central to Jewish ritual and identity, its adoption and reinterpretation in early Christianity and Islam, and the emergence of the minaret as an Islamic architectural feature originally linked to lighthouses or boundary markers before becoming a symbol of Islamic religious authority. The study highlights cases of religious coproduction, such as Jewish minarets (e.g., the Tower of David in Jerusalem) and Islamic menorahs (e.g., on early Islamic coins), as well as the complex textual interplay in the Aramaic Megillat Antiochus, where the term menarta (related to minaret) ambiguously refers to a victory monument but has been retroactively translated as menorah in modern Hebrew editions. This demonstrates how the two symbols, despite lacking direct genealogical connection, have intersected and influenced each other through linguistic, cultural, and religious interactions over centuries. [Extracted from the article]