Ancient synagogues in Palestine

Ancient synagogues in Palestine refers to synagogues and their remains in the region commonly referred to as Palestine, built by the Jewish and Samaritan communities from the time of the Hasmonean dynasty during the Late Hellenistic period, to the Late Byzantine period.

Capital depicting a menorah from the Eshtemoa synagogue, as-Samu, West Bank, dating from around the 4th–5th century CE

Numerous inscriptions have been found in the ancient synagogues in Palestine and Israel; the vast majority, c.140, of these are in Aramaic, with another c.50 in Greek and only a few in Hebrew.[1]

History

Most of the synagogues unearthed in archaeological excavations in Israel, the State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip) and the Golan Heights date from the Roman and Byzantine periods, from the third to seventh centuries. Synagogues from before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE include Gamla, Masada and Herodium.[2] The oldest remains of a Palestinian synagogue date from the 1st century CE.[3] After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the local synagogue became its substitute[3] and from Late Antiquity onward, the number of synagogues discovered rise significantly, with over one hundred being unearthed in Palestine alone.[2] Over fifty of these are situated in Galilee and on the Golan Heights.[4]

A survey conducted in the 1970s found that of the known synagogue inscriptions, 67 were in Greek and found in the coastal and major inland cities. Another 54 were in Aramaic, and 14 in Hebrew.[5] The vast majority of inscriptions are dedicatory, while the remainder feature literary sources or are short labels for images.[6] Decorations used on mosaic floors, capitals and lintels were symbolic of the Temple service and included the menorah, lulav and etrog.[7] Lions were depicted to represent the power of God.[8] Aside from remains found in-situ, architectural elements of the synagogues are often found to have been reused in the houses of adjacent villages.[9] Sometimes dressed stones were transferred further afield and lintels from the doorways of ancient Palestinian synagogues are also to be found in contemporary homes in Syria.[10]

The earliest synagogue inscription uncovered to date is the Theodotus inscription; it is in Greek and dates to the first century BCE or the first century CE. It was discovered in the City of David, just south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

All of the early synagogues were purpose-built[7] and many synagogues dating to the talmudic era onwards had annexes attached to the main structure, indicating that synagogues additionally functioned as a communal centres.[11]

Some modern-day synagogue architects have relied upon synagogue architecture in ancient Palestine in an attempt to create an "identifiably Jewish style" of synagogue design. The Henry S. Frank Memorial Synagogue in Philadelphia was inspired by the remains of the synagogue at Kfar Bar'am.[12]

Second Temple period synagogues

Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, synagogues served a different purpose that after that event. Several examples of such early synagogues from the time and territory of the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties until 70 CE have been excavated in pre-1967 Israel, on the West Bank, and one on the Golan Heights. Some are recognised as synagogues by a larger part of the scientific community, while some are very controversial. They all share only a certain number of architectural characteristics with the better-accepted post-destruction synagogues.[13]

Here is a list of all the structures from the Land of Israel/Palestine region discovered as of July 2018 and interpreted by some as Second Temple Period synagogues. The list includes following data:

Location - Built; in use till - Discovered by - Comments/reservations

Golan Heights

On the Golan Heights:

Galilee

In the Galilee:

  • Capernaum, the basalt structure underneath the later "white synagogue" - 1st century CE - not excavated
  • Migdal Synagogue (Magdala) - between 50 BCE-100 CE - discovered 2009
  • Khirbet Wadi Hamam (Nahal Arbel) - 1st half of the 1st century CE - excavated 2007–12; near Hamaam, Israel[14]
  • Tel Rekhesh/Tell el-Mukharkhash in Tabor Valley - destroyed in Bar Kochba revolt (?) - "first rural synagogue" of the period discovered as of 2016; at a Jewish farmstead from the Second Temple Period, 8 km SE of Mount Tabor[15][16]

Judaean hills and desert

In the Judaean hills and desert:

Shephelah

In the Shephelah (Judaean foothills):

Also suggested
  • Wadi Qelt Synagogue at Tulul Abu el-Alayiq, Jericho - 50–70 BCE (Hasmonean); destroyed by earthquake- Ehud Netzer - contested
  • Chorazin - described in detail in 1926 by Jacob Ory, who found it 200 metres west of 3rd-century CE synagogue; exact location not rediscovered until now
  • Qumran, where the two gathering rooms might be defined as a synagogue - around 100 BCE (?) - highly contested; if indeed a synagogue: of a sectarian type
  • Shu'afat near Jerusalem - structure excavated in 1991 by the late Alexander Onn, who dated it to early 1st century-31 BCE; insufficiently published, some claim the "case evaporated" and the "claim should be withdrawn"

Chronological list

The same sites listed in a tentatively chronological order according to the excavators' estimate of the time of construction.

Very controversial:

Ancient synagogue sites

A

B

C

D

E

G

H

J

K

  • Kefar Fahma
  • Kafr Kanna
  • Khirbet Rib
  • Khirbet Wadi Hamam

M

N

P

Q

  • Qiyuma
  • Qumran-the gathering hall might be defined as a synagogue

R

S

T

U

Y

W

  • Weradim

Z

  • Zumeimira

See also

References
  1. Rachel Hachlili (4 October 2013). Ancient Synagogues - Archaeology and Art: New Discoveries and Current Research. BRILL. pp. 517–. ISBN 978-90-04-25772-6. The majority of the inscriptions revealed in synagogues in the land of israel are in aramaic (about 140). There are, in addition , a few Hebrew inscriptions and about fifty Greek inscriptions
  2. Lee I. Levine (1998). Judaism and Hellenism in antiquity: conflict or confluence. University of Washington Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-295-97682-2.
  3. Philip Khuri Hitti (2004). History of Syria: Including Lebanon And Palestine. Gorgias Press LLC. p. 365. ISBN 978-1-59333-119-1.
  4. Lee I. Levine (May 1982). Ancient synagogues revealed. Israel Exploration Society. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8143-1706-8.
  5. Lee I. Levine (1975). Caesarea under Roman rule. Brill Archive. p. 198. ISBN 978-90-04-04013-7.
  6. Eric M. Meyers; American Schools of Oriental Research (1997). The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East. Oxford University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-19-511219-1.
  7. John S. Kloppenborg; Stephen G. Wilson; Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (1996). Voluntary associations in the Graeco-Roman world. Psychology Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-415-13593-1.
  8. Gail Saul (1984). "The Lion in Ancient Jewish Art: Symbol or Decoration". Jewish Affairs. South African Jewish Board of Deputies. p. 53. Kohl and Watzinger, the first scholars to embark upon serious research of Palestinian synagogue architecture and decoration, held the view that the lion was possibly the only genuine symbolic motif representing the power of G-d.
  9. Raphael Greenberg, Adi Keinan. Israeli Archaeological Activity in the West Bank 1967–2007: A Sourcebook Archived 29 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Ostracon 2009. pg. 136. ISBN 978-965-91468-0-2.
  10. Julian Lincoln Simon (1 January 1990). Population matters: people, resources, environment, and immigration. Transaction Publishers. p. 460. ISBN 978-1-56000-895-8. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  11. Ben Tsiyon Rozenfeld; Joseph Menirav; Chava Cassel (2005). Markets and marketing in Roman Palestine. BRILL. p. 223. ISBN 978-90-04-14049-3.
  12. David E. Kaufman (2012). "Modern Architecture and the Jewish Problem: "Jewish Architecture" Reconsidered". In Ruth Weisberg (ed.). Jewish Cultural Aspirations. Purdue University Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-55753-635-8. ...one of the earliest of a growing number of Jewish architects, made direct reference to the archaeological remains of ancient synagogues in Palestine, only recently excavated.
  13. Rachel Hachlili, "Synagogues: Before and After the Roman Destruction of the Temple" Archived 4 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Biblical Archaeology Review 41:03, May/June 2015
  14. Uzi Leibner, Institute of Archaeology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Khirbet Wadi Hamam Excavations Archived 4 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine website
  15. Nir Hasson, Archaeologists in Israel Find Ancient Synagogue Predating Second Temple Ruin Archived 4 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Haaretz, 15 August 2016
  16. "Rekhesh Project". Rekhesh.com. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  17. John L. Mckenzie (1 October 1995). The Dictionary of the Bible. Simon and Schuster. p. 855. ISBN 978-0-684-81913-6. The synagogue of Capernaum is the best preserved Palestinian synagogue; like the others, it comes from the 3rd century AD.
  18. Chad S. Spigel (2012). Ancient Synagogue Seating Capacities: Methodology, Analysis and Limits. Mohr Siebeck. p. 75. ISBN 978-3-16-151879-9. The synagogue building in Gamla, which was constructed in the early first century CE, is the oldest positively identified synagogue in Palestine.
  19. Stephen K. Catto (2007). Reconstructing the first-century synagogue: a critical analysis of current research. T & T Clark. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-567-04561-4. I estimate that it had the largest seating capacity of the Palestinian synagogue buildings and could have accommodated 360.
  20. Ancient Mosaic Pavements: Themes, Issues, and Trends: Selected Studies
  21. Maon at The Bornblum Eretz Israel Synagogues Website

Bibliography
  • Lester L. Grabbe. Synagogues in Pre-70 Palestine: A Re- Assessment, JTS 39 (1988).
  • S. Krauss. Nouvelles decouvertes archeologiques de synagogues en Palestine, REJ 89 (1930).
  • LI Levine. The Nature and Origins of Palestinian Synagogues, JBL 115 (1996).
  • Jodi Magness. Heaven on Earth: Helios and the Zodiac Cycle in Ancient Palestinian Synagogues, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 59, (2005), pp. 1–52.
  • EL Sukenik. Ancient Synagogues of Palestine and Greece, (London, 1934).
  • Dan Urman, Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher. Ancient synagogues: historical analysis and archaeological discovery, BRILL, 1998.
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