Sacred Spring Menorah and Inscription

This is a detailed view of part of the "Sacred Insect Spring" (Böcek Ayazması).  A large white marble block is on its side, top to the left, and contains a Menorah on the left, a Greek Inscription (Psalm 136:25) on the right, and another inscription on the top of it.  The block is from somewhere else and is reused here in an eighth–century context (spolia).

If you look on the left of the vertical face of the block, you will see what appears to bes scroll designs that are the top two handles of an amphora—the body of which is barely visible.  Just above it, to the left, the base and the bottom branches of the Menorah are visible.  The stone on the far left side hides part of the Menorah.  Wilson dates this stone with the Menorah to the fourth to sixth centuries A.D.

This spring is located near the Church of the Koimesis.  Stairs from the outside lead down to this circular underground structure that contains a baptismal pool (spring)—see the square opening at the bottom of the image that is lined with reused stones and that contains freshwater.

Notice the two niches in the brick wall—probably dating to the eighth-century A.D.

This information is adapted from Mark Wilson, Biblical Turkey — A Guide to the Jewish and Christian Sites of Asia Minor.  Istanbul: Yayinlari, 2010, pp. 376–378.