Replica of the Oldest Jewish Medallion Ever Discovered - BENJAMIN BEN ELIJAH HA-ROFE

Replica of the Oldest Jewish Medallion Ever Discovered - BENJAMIN BEN ELIJAH HA-ROFE

An early replica from the 19th century.

This medallion is the oldest known Hebrew medallion discovered to date, found in the city of Lyon, France, in 1656. It features Hebrew text on its front and Latin text on its obverse. Menestrier, in his 1696 history of Lyon, suggests that this medallion represents Louis Le Debonnaire, and the legend expresses the gratitude of the Jews to this king, who allowed them to build a synagogue.

This hypothesis has been disproven since the 19th century by Jewish scholars who point out that the Hebrew inscription on the medallion contains the name of Benjamin, the son of Rabbi Eliyahu Bar HaRofeh, in the form of an acrostic. Some of these scholars argue that this could be a portrait of Benjamin, son of Eliyahu HaRofeh, while others believe that Benjamin belonged to a messianic sect and that the text contains references to the false messiah, Lämmlein, who was a Jewish-German figure who appeared in 1502 in Istria, near Venice, and claimed (likely under the influence of the writings of Don Isaac Abarbanel) to be the forerunner of the redemption. Lämmlein is considered a false messiah in Judaism.

Bibliography: 

Jewish Encyclopedia, volume 2, p. 632.