MZ-6-O

Fragments of marble with zodiac signs and Hebrew inscriptions are part of a collection of artifacts found at the site of the former Great Synagogue on Berka Joselewicza Street in Oświęcim. Originally, the objects formed a unified entity and were probably elements of the Aron ha-kodesh (Hebrew for “sacred chest” or “ark”), a built-in niche in the eastern wall of the synagogue where the Torah scrolls are kept, that is, the text of the Pentateuch written in Hebrew on parchment. Zodiac signs are a common decorative element in synagogues. The restoration of the preserved elements was financed by Hanne Dallmeier from Germany. In 2004, archaeologists from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, under the direction of Dr. Małgorzata Grupa, carried out work at the site of the Great Synagogue in Oświęcim during which they discovered more than 400 items of equipment from the destroyed synagogue, including a Ner Tamid lamp (Hebrew for eternal light) and many candlesticks and chandeliers. The work was initiated by Yahali Gata and Yariv Nornberg of Israel.