Jericho synagogue

The synagogue, dating from the Byzantine period, was revealed in excavations conducted in 1936 by Dimitri Baramki of the Department of Antiquities under the British Mandate.[1]

The well-off Arab Jerusalemite, Husni Shahwan, who owned the land, built a house on top of the mosaic, careful to preserve it.[2]

The mosaic floor incorporates Jewish symbols such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Temple Menorah, a shofar and a lulav. There is also a Hebrew inscription, "Peace [up]on Israel" (שלום על ישראל), after which the mosaic was named.[3] The phrase "Peace on Israel" has been widely used on Jewish and sometimes Samaritan synagogue floors from the Byzantine and, in one known case, Early Muslim period.[4][5][6][7]

After the 1967 Six-Day War, the site came under Israeli military control and remained under the responsibility of the owners, the Shahwan family.[2] Tourists began visiting the site, as did religious Jews who came regularly for prayers. In the months after the Six Day War, Moshe Dayan thanked Mohammed, the son of Husni Shahwan, for the way the family had managed to protect the synagogue remains, which counted among the better preserved in the country.[2] Mohammed Shahwan, who had just lost the bank he had owned due to the war, placed a guard over the mosaic floor and started charging a modest admission fee from visitors for the years until[2][1] 1987, when the First Intifada broke out and the Israeli authorities confiscated the mosaic, the house and a small part of the farm around it.[2] They offered compensation to the Shahwan family, but that was rejected.

After the 1995 Oslo Accords, control of the site was given to the Palestinian Authority PA. It was agreed that free access to the site would continue and it would be adequately protected.[8] The PA has deployed a special security force to protect it.

At the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada the site became a source of conflict. On the night of 12 October 2000, vandals entered and desecrated the building, damaging the private house on top of the ancient mosaic. Later, the PA repaired the damage.[9] The Torah scroll stored at the synagogue was rescued from the fire which had been started and was taken to Mevo'ot Yericho.

In 2005 a group of Israelis was able to visit the synagogue after it was restored by the Municipality of Jericho. Originally the IDF allowed only monthly visits - on the first of the Jewish month - in order to conduct prayer services. Beginning in July 2007, prayer services have been allowed once a week.[10]