[Avodah] The shape of the Menorah of the Temple

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 08:27:00PM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
: Was the menorah made from 24 Kt gold?  When were the refining techniques
: for obtaining pure gold invented?  AIUI, naturally occurring gold is
: about 22 Kt; did the ancients even know that this was not "zahav tahor"
: and that it was possible to extract the silver from it and increase its
: purity?

If "zahav tahor" meant the same thing as pure gold did to the Mitzriim,
then it's around 23-1/2 Kt or better. Rating of gold by purity was
started in the 12th dynasty, usually dated as 1991-1802 BCE, around 400
years before the usual dating of yetzi'as Mitzrayim.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha