I have to preface my remarks with the following caveat.... that I am a big admirer of Chabad and have the highest regard and admiration for everything they do .....
However .......
I don't think that they got the shape of the menorah in the Bais Hamikdash right ....
yes ... I know the Rambam illustrated what's now called the Chabad Menorah in his Mishna Torah ... yes yes I know all that ....
the Rambam drew it for the purpose of depicting the "kaftorim, perchim, and the geveeim .... not for the actual shape ...
he drew it on an angle because it's a lot easier to draw an angle then a curve ...
In the article below, they report that they found the "oldest depiction of the menorah"....
guess what????
It's curved .... and I believe practically all depictions of the menorah found in archaeological excavations are curved .... .....
For the first time, the remains of a Jewish settlement of the Second Temple period have been discovered in Beer Sheva.
The archaeological excavation carried out to facilitate a new neighborhood near the northern entrance to Beer Sheba has revealed evidence of Jewish day-to-day life there, including part of an oil lamp decorated with a nine-branched menorah – one of the earliest yet discovered by researchers – as well as limestone vessels used by Jews for reasons of ritual purity, a watchtower and more.
The site, dated from the 1st century CE until the Bar-Kokhba Revolt in 135 CE, also appears to contain underground hidden passageways used by the Jewish rebels.
According to the excavators, Dr. Peter Fabian of the Ben-Gurion University in the Negev and Dr. Daniel Varga of the Israel Antiquities Authority,
"Remains of the settlement cover an area of c. 2 dunams and include several structures and installations, such as the foundations of a large watchtower, baking facilities, ancient trash pits and an underground system that was probably used as a Jewish ritual bath (mikveh).