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Jewish life in Jerusalem saw a renaissance beginning in 614, when the Persians defeated the Byzantines. Jewish settlement in the holy city—sharply curtailed by Roman and Byzantine law—picked up quickly. Some families moved into houses which the previous tenants had decorated with symbols of their own religion. On this house, a cross on the lintel was plastered over and Jewish symbols, seven-branched candelabra (menorot), ram’s horns (shofarot), and incense shovels (machtot) were added.