Colosseum Built with Money from Loot from Rome's Jewish War

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UNESCO disgraces its assigned mission to protect the world's cultural heritage and enhance it and defend it. It did so by adopting a resolution proposed by Arab states, working with the PLO/Palestinian Authority/, that denied the Jewish historical connection to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and its sacredness in the Jewish religion.

However, Italian archeological authorities are more honest. They frankly state that the Colosseum in Rome was built with loot from the Jewish War finally concluded while the Colosseum was already under construction. This determination was made in the last 15 years on the grounds of the recent discovery, or shall we say reexamination of previously discovered monumental stones that had not yet been thoroughly and sufficiently examined in the past, a common problem in archeology. Furthermore, it is likely that much or most of the loot taken from Judea [IVDAEA CAPTA to the Roman Empire of the time] was taken from the very Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount. We say this since we know that monetary contributions to the Temple from Jews throughout the Diaspora for ritual purposes were stored in the Temple. Further, the Arch of Titus, only about 150 or 200 meters north or northwest of the Colosseum, shows loot from the Temple, such as the golden menorah, being carried in a Roman victory parade, a triumph, through the streets of ancient Rome.

A standing sign inside the Colosseum states in two languages, Italian and English:

the colosseum, history

In AD 72 the emperor Vespasian used the spoils of his Jewish campaign to build Rome's first permanent amphitheater to host hunting spectacles and gladiatorial combats . . . .

il Colosseo, la sua storia

Nel 72 d C,  l'imperatore Vespasiano intraprese con il bottino della guerra giudaica, la costruizione del primo amfiteatro stabile di Roma . . .

It is a shame that the honesty of the Italian archeological authorities and their promptness in bringing the newly discovered information to the public's knowledge was not matched at the UNESCO vote by the Italian foreign ministry, which abstained on a matter of well known historical fact. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, to be sure, expressed his regret over the vote. Could someone please notify UNESCO, and its Arab members especially, about the extensive literature in ancient Latin, Greek, and Hebrew writings, as well as in other languages, about the Jewish War, not to mention the archeological discoveries, the continuously known Arch of Titus, the coins and other concrete reminders of that war and the battle against the Jews in Jerusalem?
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Other Related Info
The war, called by the Romans the Jewish War, started in 66 CE and ended in 73 CE (or in 74 CE, according to some scholars) with the fall of the fortress of Masada to Roman forces. Incidentally, Arab auxiliary troops fought for Rome in the war, including at Jerusalem. All considered, the bulk of the fighting was over in the summer of the year 70 CE when the Romans captured the Temple of Jerusalem and looted it, as said above. Thus they would have been able to start building the Colosseum before the actual end of the war.
--on the Menorah's importance for Jews here  and here.
--the Menorah goes from Jerusalem to the Roman "Peace" Temple   here.
-- better pix of the bas reliefs on the Arch of Titus plus inscriptions on it here. Click on the photos to enlarge.
-- Depiction of the Temple utensils in an ancient Jewish mosaic from the Byzantine period here. By the way, these photos of ancient Jewish mosaics are found in a book published by UNESCO. But that was long ago.
-- commentary on outrageous UNESCO vote here.
-- The Romans minted coins to commemorate their victory over the Jews with at least two types of insciptions on them. One was Judea Captured/Conquered [IVDAEA CAPTA]. Another was Judea Defeated [IVDAEA DEVICTA]. A third inscription used was Judea Recaptured [IVDAEA RECEPTA] on a gold coin (aureus). Few of these IVDAEA RECEPTA coins were minted although they may have been minted first. It seems that they were then replaced by IVDAEA CAPTA and others. I will report on the Judea Recaptured coin soon. One of this type is on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
See pix of Jewish coins of the Revolt as well as other ancient Jewish coins here.

ADDED 5 December 2016
The scholar who determined that loot from the Jewish war, especially from the Temple in Jerusalem, financed the building of the Colosseum in Rome was Professor Geza Alfoldy, a Hungarian. See links here & here.

Abbas Smears Jews by Claiming Jews' feet Are Dirty

Mahmoud Abbas, alias Abu Mazen, the supposedly pro-peace darling of the EU, the White House, the State Department and an assortment of so-called "Leftists," has gone pretty far insulting Jews this time. He asserted in his frequently bigoted style:

. . . . the 'filthy feet' of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount desecrate it. . .

A fuller quote has:

“Al-Aqsa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet. We won’t allow them to do so and we will do whatever we can to defend Jerusalem.” [WAFA, PA/PLO press agency]

 This claim of Jews having dirty or filthy feet actually  goes back to medieval Muslim notions and prejudices against Jews which have been upheld in places from Persia [Iran] to Morocco.

In referring to 'filthy feet', Abbas seemed to be quoting a hadith "You must clean your courtyards and do not follow in the footsteps of the Jews"  [here]

Given the extensive laws of cleanliness in the Jewish tradition, the ritual washing of hands before meals, the ritual bathing in the miqveh, etc, this slur from Muslim tradition is a smear reflecting deep prejudice.

Applied to any people but the Jews, such a slur would likely elicit wide disapproval. But since the EU and much of the rest of the West, is now in a deep hate-Israel mood, smears like Abbas' are conveniently overlooked.

The prejudice against Jews as unclean goes farther in the Shiite tradition than even in the Sunni tradition [Abbas is a Sunni]. Consider:

Jewish 'dirt'  was taken to its logical extreme in Sh'ia tradition, where the Jew was najas or impure: To wine and other spirits, dogs, swine, dead animals that were not ritually slaughtered, blood, excrement, and the milk of animals whose meat Muslims are not allowed to eat Shi’a jurists traditionally add dead bodies and non-believers. 

Thus Jews in Iran were not allowed to handle fruit and vegetables in the market, lest they contaminate them, and Jews were even known to have been executed in 19th century Persia for brushing up against Muslims in the rain, thus rendering them impure.
As recently as  2006, Mohamed Ali  Ramin, an adviser to president Ahmadinejad of Iran, said: "Jews are a dirty people. That is why one has accused them throughout history of spreading deadly diseases and plagues*." [here]

Abbas also added his approval to war and violent terrorist acts:

We welcome every drop of blood spilled                                                                  [referring especially to the riots on the Temple Mount]

Is it fair to say that Abbas is bloodthirsty?

New Archeological Discovery in Jerusalem -- Confirms 2nd Temple Practices

One of the many sensational archeological discoveries in Jerusalem in recent years, in and around the Temple Mount, was a seal inscribed with the Aramaic words Daka l'adonay [דכא ליה]. These words mean "Pure for God." The Aramaic daka is equivalent to the Hebrew zakh, meaning pure. The la [ל] means "for." The two letters YH [יה] are an abbreviation for the name of God, usually written YHVH in English by Jews. The ancient Jews did not want to write out the full name of God out of respect for holiness. Here is the story in brief with a nice, big photo:

Ancient Seal with Hebrew Inscription 'Seal of God'

Israeli archaeologists have announced the discovery of a rare clay seal – likely used to certify the purity of ritual objects used in the Second Temple – at an excavation site under the Old City of Jerusalem.The coin-sized seal, measuring about two centimeters in diameter, bears two Aramaic words meaning “pure for God.”

It is the first “direct archaeological evidence of activity on the Temple Mount and the workings of the Temple during the Second Temple period,” according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Archaeologist Ronny Reich of Haifa University said the seal dates from between the 1st century B.C. to 70 A.D.

“It seems that the inscribed object was used to mark products or objects that were brought to the Temple, and it was imperative they be ritually pure. This stamped impression is probably the kind referred to in the Mishnah as a chotem, or seal. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such an object or anything similar to it was discovered in an archaeological excavation and it constitutes direct archaeological evidence of the activity on the Temple Mount and the workings of the Temple during the Second Temple period,” archaeologists Eli Shukron of the IAA and Prof. Reich said in a statement.
The rare seal was unearthed at the City of David excavation site just outside the Temple Mount compound. Last month, archaeologists found four bronze coins stamped around 17 A.D. by the Roman official Valerius Gratus during an excavation at the site.

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The photo and text below it come from the Land of Israel blog. We know that the seal is from the Second Temple Period since it uses the Hebrew letters in the form that we still use today, with slight differences. In the First Temple Period, Jews/Israelites used an alphabet [כתב עברי קדום] much like that used by the Phoenicians/Canaanites which became the model for the Greek alphabet. The first version of the Greek alphabet was called Phoinikia after the Phoenicians. Alphabet is of course a word derived from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta, which names are taken from the first two letters of the Hebrew/Canaanite/Phoenician alphabet, alef and beyt.