\"Synagogue\"

C. Pappalardo, “Synagogue”, in A. Di Berardino (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity 3:670-678, IVP Academic, Downers Grove, IL, 2014. SYNAGOGUE

SYNAGOGUE. The institution of the synagogue had in *Palestine they can be detected only from the a pivotal role in the development of Judaism both be- Hasmonean era. The synagogue definitively was fore and after the destruction of the temple of Jerusa- born as part of a gradual process during the period lem, which occurred in AD 70. The synagogue had of the second temple. Its remote origins are perhaps numerous functions, which were not only religious: to be sought in the assemblies that were held near readings and study of the law, communal prayer, res- the city entrance, which during the entire biblical olution of legal questions, civic administration, com- period was the place of many activities, similar to mon meals and a hospice for foreigners. those that were then held in the synagogue. The The origin of the synagogue, both as an institu- transferral of these activities from one open place to tion and as a building, is still unclear. The first refer- an enclosed building gradually occurred during the ences to an assembly are found in the Bible, which in Hellenistic era, probably in the late 2nd or early 1st c. many passages mentions a group of Jews who gath- BC. Therefore, one can come to some firm concluered to listen to the prophets (Ezek 11:16). Some au- sions: starting from the 2nd c. BC, one can verify a thors from the 1st c. BC referred to the synagogue by definite bond between the sabbath and the commucomparing it to the Roman collegia. Around 45 BC nal reading of the law, starting from the account of the collegia were prohibited by Julius Caesar, with the assembly that gathered to listen to the biblical the exception of those of the Jews, because they were reading made by Ezra the scribe (Neh 8–10), which considered among the most ancient. In sources became a model to imitate, in an assembly different from the 1st c., there are reports of synagogues both from that of the temple, but not at all opposed to the in Palestine and in the Diaspora. *Philo tells us latter; substantial transformations to the institution about the synagogue of *Alexandria (Ad Gaium 156 of the synagogue occurred over the course of the Vita Mosis 2,216; De Somniis 2,156), Flavius Josephus 2nd c. AD, when the synagogue assumed a specifimentions the synagogue of Tiberius, in which gath- cally liturgical role in replacing the sacrificial cult of erings were held after prayer (Vita 77). In the NT the temple of Jerusalem, which by that point had frequent mention is made of the synagogue. The disappeared (Perrot, DBS 13,686). Starting from the term synagōgē occurs 56 times in the NT, a good 34 3rd c. BC, certain epigraphic testimonies attest to of which occur in the Lukan corpus (i.e., the gospel the existence of the proseuchai, buildings in which and the Acts of the Apostles). The term proseuchē is the Jews gathered in an assembly, in *Egypt as well found therein with the most common meaning of as in *Rome, and even at Tiberias (Flavius Josephus, “prayer”; only in two places could it refer to a place of Vita 277). Only starting from the 1st c. AD was the gathering (Acts 16:13-16). term synagōgē imposed to refer to the building for The birth of a building for gathering within Juda- the assemblies. ism is a debated topic among scholars. Some mainThe birth of the proseuchai is to be framed within tain that one must go back to the period before the the Hellenistic cultural context. There existed, in Babylonian exile, even to *Moses, acc. to a common fact, in the Hellenistic world associations, corporaidea starting from the 1st c. AD. On the origin of the tions, groups of various types with cultural, religious synagogue, various hypotheses have been formu- and social ends. The Jewish proseuchai, therefore, lated in modern times. Some date the institution responded to a twofold demand: that of setting before the exile, to the time of the prophet Jeremiah. themselves up as a well-defined entity, from the legal Others push the date back to the period of the re- point of view, like the pagan corporations, and that form made at the time of King Josiah, around 621, of gathering the Jewish community that was far who prohibited worship in the temples on the high from the temple of Jerusalem together for prayer. In places in favor of the temple of Jerusalem (2 Kgs 23; Egypt, first Ptolemy III and then Ptolemy V underPs 74:8). Others hold that the synagogue arose dur- took a political action of restoration of the temples ing the Babylonian exile. The destruction of the and the various cults. This had an influence on the temple in 586 and the subsequent deportation numerous Jewish communities in Egypt. Scholars brought about the birth of the religious assemblies, are aware of more than one Jewish temple from this which were not tied to cultic sacrifice, thanks to the period in Egypt. The most famous is that of Yaho at rise of charismatic figures like the prophet Ezekiel. Elephantine, but there is also information from temThe synagogue, which arose in Babylon, then devel- ples in Cyrenaica, at Leontopolis, at Iraq el-Amir, at oped in Palestine. Finally, one can conclude, on the Lakish, and esp. from the Samaritan temple on Gerbasis of epigraphic and archaeological evidence, that izim. It is likely that these temples were built at the the first synagogues were seen in Egypt and the rest behest of the Ptolemies, who intended to oppose the of the Diaspora starting from the 3rd c. BC, although centrality of the temple of Jerusalem and to weaken

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the bond between the Jews of the Diaspora and their gogues at Jerusalem. This exaggerated number could homeland. The synagogue of *Antioch mentioned only be an indication of the existence of many of by Flavius Josephus (Jewish War 7,44-145) was per- these buildings at Jerusalem during the 1st c. AD. In haps also built at the behest of the Seleucid Deme- any case, the book of Acts attests to the existence of trius I Soter (162–150 BC) with the same purpose. At many synagogues at Jerusalem (Acts 6:9; 24:12). In Rome there is evidence of Jewish “private altars” in this regard, the testimony given to us by the anony139 BC (Valerius Maximus, De Superstitionibus I,3,3). mous pilgrim of Bordeaux, who came to Jerusalem The proseuchai were tied to sabbath prayer, notes Jo- in 333, should be mentioned. This individual says sephus (Against Apion I,209); the historian Agathar- that of the seven synagogues that were on Mount chides of Cnidus (181–146 BC) says that the Jews Zion, only one had remained (Baldi, Enchiridion Lowere accustomed to rest on the sabbath and not to corum Sanctorum, 729). do anything except gather together in sacred places While until AD 70 the buildings used for the (hieroi) toward the evening to pray with hands lifted reading and the study of the law of Moses did not up (Philo, In Flaccum 48-49). The proseuchai were have architectural characteristics that distinguished also the schools that were modeled after the style of them from others, after the destruction of the temthe philosophical didaskaleia, in which people were ple of Jerusalem they began to acquire well-defined taught to live acc. to the principles of the law (Vita characteristics. The classical theory on the developMosis 2,216). Well attested as well were the practices ment of the synagogue, elaborated by Khol and of the funerary college and commercial activities Watzinger, well emphasizes the three chief types of connected to the proseuchē. synagogue building that can be found in Palestine The importance of the function that the proseu- from the 2nd c. until the 7th c. AD. The type called chai acquired within the Diaspora starting from the “Galilean” was made in a basilica-form layout, with 3rd c. BC immediately had a certain amount of influ- three doors on the monumental façade which faces ence in Palestine. After the ethnic-religious reawak- Jerusalem, with two aisles of columns on the sides ening during the Maccabean era, religious circles and one on the back wall dividing the central space began to develop, esp. of the rabbinic-Pharisaic ex- from those on the three sides, occupied in part by a traction, in which legal questions were discussed in flight of stairs that runs along the walls. The direclight of the Mosaic law. The synagogues in Israel tion of prayer was probably toward the S, i.e., were therefore born with a well-distinguished cul- toward Jerusalem, although the place in which the tural function reserved for the temple of Jerusalem: scroll of the law was preserved and the place from the hearing and the learning of the law on the sab- which the reading was proclaimed are difficult to bath (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion II,175). The identify. The most beautiful example of this type of first synagogues therefore responded to the demand, synagogue is that of Capernaum, along with that of always increasingly felt in the Pharisaic milieu, of Baram, Chorazim and Meron. The oblong rectancelebrating the sabbath (2 Macc 8:27; 12:38; Neh gular layout type, also called “transitional” or “Jew9:14). Over the course of the 1st c. AD the bond be- ish,” oriented the prayer on one of the long sides, came evident (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion which also often contained a niche in which the II,175; Philo, Quod omnis probus 81), also thanks to scrolls of the law were placed. The following synathe decree of Halicarnassus mentioned by Flavius gogues belong to this type of synagogue: Beth Josephus (Antiquities 14,258). From this moment on- Shearim, Ein Ghedhi and Hammat Tiberias. The ward, the places in which the sabbath gatherings third type takes up the basilica layout, with two took place had their own well-established architec- rows of columns and an apse in the back to preserve tural tradition, so that already in the 1st c. BC Au- the scrolls and to indicate the direction of prayer. gustus’s edict mentioned by Flavius Josephus (Antiq- The following synagogues are of this type: Beth uities 16,164) referred to the building, calling it the Alpha, Na’aran and Ma’oz. “house the sabbath” (sabbateion). The first synaAlthough from the typological point of view this gogues, in contrast to the proseuchai at Egypt con- tripartite model can still be accepted today, quesstructed and dedicated by the authorities, were sim- tions pertaining to the chronological development ple spaces or buildings, which would acquire are very much debated. In particular one can no lonincreasing importance with the passing of time, to ger maintain, in light of the archaeological data, that the point of adopting some specific aspects even the Galilean type was the most ancient, dating back from the architectural point of view. to the 2nd–4th c., when it is certain that the synaOn the basis of what was said in the Jerusalem gogue of Capernaum ought to be dated at the end of Talmud (Meg.73d), there were 480 (or 394) syna- the 4th or beginning of the 5th c. Therefore, many

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synagogues that were considered to be the most an- tainly played a foundational role. cient are today dated to the 4th, 5th or 6th c. (MeThe most widespread terms to refer to the buildroth, Capernaum and Nabratein). The synagogue of ing for Jewish gatherings were proseuchē, a term Khirbet Sheama‘, a clear example of the transition used in the most ancient inscriptions found in Egypt type, was constructed in the 3rd c.; thus it turns out and elsewhere starting from the 3rd c. BC, and to be contemporaneous to the synagogue of Meiron, synagōgē, a term used to refer to the worship builda classic example of the Galilean type. The most an- ing, only starting from the 1st c. AD, as shown by the cient phase of the synagogue of Hammat Tiberias inscription from Berenice dated to AD 56. At Jerusaencloses all the elements characteristic of the three lem the term was used before AD 70 in the Theodovarious types. Some synagogues from the Golan tos inscription. In addition to these two terms, less Heights, which in certain aspects recall the most an- widespread words were recorded, such as sabbateion cient type and others the most recent, were con- or sambatheion (“house/place of the sabbath”— structed between the 5th and 7th c. It is therefore Flavius Josephus, Antiquities 16,164: CIG 752), more likely that the first two types of buildings co- proseuchtērion, eucheion (“place of prayer”) didaskaexisted until the 5th or 6th c., the period that is said leion (“school”—Philo, Vita Mosis 2,216), ho oikos to mark the third type. (“the house”—Lifschitz, Donateurs, 13.20.33), ho haAnother highly debated question is that of the gios topos (“the holy place”—Lifschitz, Donateurs, synagogue building’s orientation. To identify the di- 10; CIJ 694), ho topos (“the place”—Lifschitz, Donarection of prayer in ancient synagogue buildings, teurs, 31), to hieron (“the temple”—Flavius Josephus, archaeologists have used some rigorous criteria that Jewish War 4,408; 7,44-45). can be broken down into the following points: the Dedicatory inscriptions dating to the mid-3rd c. building’s architectural elements, columns, apse and BC and to the 2nd c. BC and found in Egypt refer to niche; the direction toward which the Jewish sym- the building for the common prayer of the Jews with bols were designed in the mosaic floors; the furnish- the term proseuchē. In particular the dedicatory inings present in the synagogue hall, like a platform or scription of the proseuchē at Schedia (Boffo, Isscreen; and the external form of the building, in par- crizioni, 1), a place near the W branch of the Nile ticular the layout of the door. Looking at the archae- Delta, which was written on limestone, mentioned ological data, it is possible to assume as valid the the Jews who made the proseuchē for King Ptolemy, hypothesis that around the 4th c. the majority of Queen Berenice and their children. The mention of synagogue buildings were facing Jerusalem, al- the two sovereigns leads scholars to date the inscripthough examples that go against this convention are tion to the years between about 247 and 221 BC and not lacking. However, it is also true that it has not is, along with an inscription of the Crocodilopolis, yet been confirmed that there was just one type of the most ancient attestation to the existence of Jewbuilding. Starting in the 5th c. some Jewish commu- ish buildings of worship in Egypt. Another dedicanities, those that lived near the urban centers of a tion of a proseuchē was found at Athribis (Boffo, Iscertain importance and therefore in close contact crizioni, 10), local places on the S point of the Nile with the Christian communities which by that point Delta. The inscription names King Ptolemy and had been well-rooted, adapted the basilica layout, Queen Cleopatra, thanks to whom Ptolemy the son which had become a typical form of the churches, to of Epicurus and the Jews of Athribis made a meet the demands of their meetings and worship proseuchē to the most high God. Given the uncerservices. Therefore, a century after the basilica with tainty of this Ptolemy and that Cleopatra, the date an apse had become a standard element for build- can be between 186 or 172 or even 145 BC. A slab in ings of Christian worship, some Jewish communi- alabaster coming from an imprecise location of ties adopted the same model (Milson, Art and Archi- lower Egypt (Boffo, Iscrizioni, 12), speaks of the retecture, 84-105). placement trophy with the dedicatory inscription The synagogue architecture has more than one with this which indicates how the proseuchē was deprecedent. The Roman basilica certainly had an clared by King Ptolemy Euergetes to be a place of essential role in the inspiration of the Galilean asylum. The mention of Ptolemy is generic, and one type, although for the second type the prototypes can find various datings. Ptolemy II with a provision must be sought in the triclinium of the Hellenistic from the year 118 proclaims the Egyptian temples to age, in some Nabataean temples and in the bou- be places of asylum; the occasion mentioned could leuterion of many Hellenistic cities. Finally, for be this one. Other scholars think that the king and the third model, in the basilica form with an apse, queen mentioned in the text are instead Cleopatra the Christian basilica of the *Byzantine age cer- VII and Caesarion and thus date the inscription to

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42–30 BC. Two inscriptions (Boffo, Iscrizioni, 2-3), Hasmonean period (75–50 BC) confirmed the evione dated to the years 250–175, the other to 150–50, dence already discovered at Gamla. The building mention the Israelites of Delo who sent tribute to had three phases, and although only the second was the holy temple on Gerizim, and although they do clear, we can speak of a building that served as the not refer to a specific building they bear witness to hall for the synagogue meeting. From this point of the existence of a Samaritan community on the is- view there are multiple similarities between the land of Delo. At Corinth (Boffo, Iscrizioni, 45) building at Gamla and that at Jericho. The adaptaetched on a rock, perhaps the architrave of a door, tions at Masada and Herodium are explained by the one finds the words “synagogue of the Jews.” The in- desire to insert in the buildings some functional elescription is probably to be dated to the 2nd c. AD. ments considered essential for a synagogue. These Found at Berenice, modern-day Benghazi in Cyre- elements can briefly be summarized as follows: a naica, an inscription reports the list of people who rectangular hall with benches on the four sides, a were involved in organizing the synagogue, the sec- series of columns or pillars to form lateral aisles ond year of the Emperor Nero, 2 December 56 (Lif- around the central space, the lack of any element schitz, Donateurs, 100). From the epigraphic point characterizing the function of the building on the of view, information on a synagogue in Palestine external walls, the absence of a clear orientation of and on the Golan Heights comes from the Theodo- the building, the presence of a niche or small room tos inscription (Boffo, Iscrizioni, 31). It is a Greek in which the scrolls of the Sacred Scriptures were inscription etched on a slab of calcium rock, found placed, a plumbing system in connection to the hall, in a cistern during an excavation on the SE heel of in relation to the restrooms or the ritual ablutions. Jerusalem (Ophel). The text refers to a certain The- Other functional elements could be present, but odotos, priest and head of the synagogue, who re- they could also vary from building to building or in stored the synagogue construction made by his an- various ages or regions, and they did not therefore cestors and the hospice for foreigners with a represent an element of specific identification for hydraulic layout. The inscription should be dated to the synagogue (Netzer, The Synagogues, 282-284). the 1st half of the 1st c. AD, therefore before AD 70, Recently two other buildings with the aforemenand attests to the existence of a building of Jewish tioned characteristics have been discovered. Scholworship even before the destruction of the temple, ars think that they could be synagogues from the 1st even at Jerusalem (Kloppenborg Verbin, Dating c. BC such as that in Jericho: at Kiryat Sefer and Theodotos). From these last two inscriptions it is Khirbet Um el-’Umdan, two villages that are not too clear how during the 1st half of the 1st c. AD the far from Jerusalem (Milson, Art and Architecture, term proseuchē gave way to the term synagōgē to 3-9). At Magdala a building with small dimensions refer to the building of Jewish worship. was discovered, which is considered to be a synaWith respect to the archaeological data, in Pales- gogue. Rectangular with small steps and sides, the tine, four buildings from the 1st c. AD are to be con- building after AD 70 was transformed into a basin sidered synagogues: the one in Masada was a simple for the collection and the distribution of water (V.C. room, adapted by the Jews who were rebelling Corbo, Scavi archeologici a Magdala: Liber Annuus against Rome to accommodate a synagogue, with 24 [1974] 204-245). the construction of steps along the walls of the room Archaeological evidence for synagogues that can and a small room set against a corner, which proba- be dated to the time after the destruction of the bly served as a genizah, i.e., a storeroom for the sa- temple of Jerusalem (AD 70) has been discovered in cred scrolls. On the Herodium, a synagogue from dozens of locations belonging to the Roman provthe same era was identified in a triclinium of the ince of Palaestina. Few can be dated with certainty, Herodian edifice, which was readapted to the need and of these the most ancient date to the 4th c. At of the community, close to which a small bath for Horvat Ammudim in Upper Galilee the synagogue ritual ablutions was also constructed. The discovery has a basilica form and a door on the S side. Two of the synagogue at Gamla on the Golan Heights has rows of seven columns, more than two in the back, shed new light on the synagogue of the 1st c. AD, divided the internal space. Traces of a mosaic floorbecause it was not an adapted building, but a syna- ing and geometric motifs and a fragmentary ingogue inserted within the urban layout, with typical scription in Aramaic were found. From the ceramcharacteristics of the synagogue hall: rectangular ics and the coins discovered during the excavation, form, columns dividing the internal space and small the synagogue was dated to the first decades of the steps along the wall for receiving the assembly. At 4th c. The synagogue of Khirbet Shema was a rectJericho the discovery of a synagogue dated to the angular oblong. The chief entrance was found on

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the N side, and a second entrance is found on the W side, occupied by an elevated gallery. The room has two rows of four columns placed on the stylobate. A lifted platform of a few centimeters came against the S wall to form a bema seat, upon which there must have been an aedicule to store the scrolls of the law. The date of the construction of the synagogue, for which two separate phases are supposed, is believed by some to go back to the late 4th or early 5th c. At Gush Halav the synagogue, which is rectangular with two rows of columns, is to be dated in its various phases to the 2nd half of the 5th c., although it remained in use probably until the beginning of the 8th c. In addition to being mentioned in the NT, the synagogue of Capernaum is also known as the most beautiful and best preserved example of a Galilean synagogue. Basilica-shaped, it has in its internal portion two rows of columns in a N-S direction plus another row along its northern side. Three doors open to the N side, although on the E side a door puts the synagogue hall in contact with a threeporticoed courtyard in the form of an irregular trapezium. The digs starting from 1968 have allowed scholars to identify the chronology of the various phases of the building’s construction, which took place over the course of the 5th c. and was completed in the last quarter of that c. The synagogue of Sepphoris is in the form of a very elongated rectangle with shorter sides placed to the SW and the NE. A single door leads to the room through the SW wall, near the S corner. A single row of five columns runs parallel to the long sides of the building, next to the NE wall. Near the NW corner of the room is an elevated masonry platform. The floor of the room turns out to have mosaics with a multicolored tapestry and seven sectors: in the first two, one finds representations of scenes pertaining to the visitation of the angels to Abraham and Sarah and the sacrifice of Isaac; in the third there is a representation, recurring on the mosaic flooring of the synagogues, namely the zodiac, with the sun at the center carried on a quadriga and on the four corners, the personification of the seasons. The fourth sector has three paintings that depict offerings at the temple: a basket with the firstfruits, the table with the showbread and in the third panel the sacrificial lamb, money offerings, a jar with oil, a flesh offering and two horns. In the fifth sector, which has been severely damaged, the daily offering and sacrifice before the tabernacle is represented; at the center, Aaron was probably represented. The sixth sector consists of three panels, the center one depicting the chest of the Scriptures with the curtains lifted up, with two

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seven-arm candelabra beside the horn, tongs, palm, cedar and myrtle. The final sector, the seventh, depicts at the center a medallion which contained an inscription in Greek which has only remained in fragments, with two lions facing each other at the sides. The upper part of the mosaic tapestry was probably covered or destroyed with the construction of the bema’s platform. On the N side ran a bar of geometric themes interwoven and multicolored with some of the central squares containing inscriptions in Hebrew. The basilica-shaped building of the synagogue of Gaza has five aisles and perhaps an apse to the E. It imitates the schema of Christian basilicas and is identified as a synagogue only thanks to the decorative motifs and the inscription on the mosaic flooring, which reports the names of those who offered it and the date of the construction, i.e., AD 508–509. There remains very little from the decorative flooring motif. From the panels of the canvas that decorated the central aisle, only a part remains, in which the classic motif of David with a lyre is depicted. Another abundant fragment is preserved in the S aisle, in which inside a series of spirals of vines, some animals are represented and in one of these architectural swirls a dedicatory inscription (A. Ovadiah, The Synagogue at Gaza, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, 129-132). Also at Nabratein there is a basilicashaped synagogue, with an entry on the S side, which is divided into three aisles by two rows of four columns; traces of benches were found in the shelter of the E and W walls. A lintel is carved with an inscription flanked by a menorah enclosed in a wreath. The inscription bears the date of the building’s construction, AD 564. The synagogue of Beth Alpha is a basilica-shaped building with three aisles, with a narthex and an atrium to the N, and an apse on the S side. The mosaic flooring is composed of three panels, the first near the apse to the S represents the chest used to preserve the scrolls of the Torah, surrounded by lions and two seven-arm candelabra; on the central panel a zodiac with the chariot of the sun at the center is depicted; finally, on the N panel, Abraham and his son Isaac are depicted in the biblical event of the sacrifice. An inscription in Aramaic attests that the mosaic was made at the time of the emperor Justin (*Justin I, 518–527; *Justin II, 565– 578), while a Greek inscription reports the names of the mosaicists Marianus and his son Hanina. The synagogue of Bar’am is among the most beautiful examples of the Galilean type of synagogue. Through a porticoed colonnade and three entry doors located on the beautiful façade, one enters the basilica-shaped room colonnaded on three

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sides. The floor consists of slabs of rock. Several in- aisle to the W and two to the E, the synagogue had vestigations recently completed have brought to mosaics on the floor, with the usual themes: two light the existence of a more ancient building below lions facing each other to a series of six square panwhat is now at the surface level, which is likely to be els containing inscriptions in Greek, which mendated to the 1st half of the 5th c. A substantial re- tioned the benefactors who took care of the builddecorating of the building took place at the begin- ing’s accommodations; at the center a panel with the ning of the 7th c. The entry doors on the S side were zodiac around the personification of the sun on the closed, while from the N side, the length of the room chariot, and at the corners the four seasons; close to was reduced, thus erecting a new façade with three the step to the bema was the representation of the entry doors. The portico and the courtyard on the S chest containing the scrolls of the law, accompanied side were converted into small rooms, used together by two candelabra with seven arms and the usual with the synagogue until the 12th c. Jewish symbols. A larger building was subsequently The synagogue of Meroth is a basilica-shaped built over this synagogue in the form of a regular building with a portico and a courtyard in front of basilica, on the pattern typical of the Galilean synathe S façade. The benches on the wall ran under the gogue. Three doors on the W side were connected to protection of the lateral walls. Three floor levels bear a courtyard, and an apsed bema occupied the S wall. witness to various phases of the building. The most This synagogue also had two different construction ancient floor was a simple floor of lime; at the inter- phases that are datable to the mid-7th c. The mosaic mediary level one finds a multicolored mosaic, flooring had geometric themes typical of the mosawhich is datable to the 2nd half of the 5th c., while ics from that era. The synagogue probably remained the upper floor in slabs of rock is dated to the end of in use until the mid-8th c. the 5th or early 6th c. At Beth Yerach one finds a building enclosed by a At Nabratein the building imitates the Galilean wall with two towers on either side and three rooms basilica model and had various phases, the most an- on the N side. The synagogue has a basilica layout cient of which dates back to the 3rd c., the others to with three aisles and an apse, and two service rooms the 4th and 6th c. At Meiron the synagogue follows on the S side. A few fragments of a mosaic scattered the Galilean model, rectangular, entry to the S, two along the aisles, containing vegetable, animal and rows of columns on the sides and one row toward geometric themes, are all that remains of the floor. the N wall; the façade of the N entry is preceded by Archaeologists have distinguished two phases of the a portico and a flight of stairs of four steps. The dat- building, both dating to the 4th and 5th c. ing of the building is placed at the end of the 3rd or The synagogue of Beth She’arim is a basilica with early 4th c. three aisles separated by two rows of eight pillars; it At Chorazin, 4 km (2.5 mi) to the N of Caper- has a narthex in front from which three doors gave naum, one finds the remains of a synagogue in the access to the hall. A platform was found adjacent to Galilean form. The building, in local basalt, seems to the NW wall. Later touchups are to be attributed to have been constructed before the 4th c. and re- the closing of the central door of the SE to create a mained in use until the beginning of the 7th c. sort of polygonal apse. The building, not well dated The synagogue of Arbel has a basilica layout, but going back to the mid-3rd. to early 4th c., was with three aisles divided by two rows of five columns destroyed around the mid-4th c. and another two on the N side. The chief entrance is At Hammath Gader the layout of the synagogue found to the E, and remains of benches along the is that of a basilica, with an apse on the S side, which walls are found under the protection of the E and W was added in the last of the three phases, dating to walls. Under the paved flooring are traces of a previ- the 6th c. The first phase is difficult to date, while the ous floor with a mosaic. The building had two or second phase is similar to the third, with the excepperhaps three phases, which, however, kept the tion of the apse, and is dated to the end of the 3rd or building unchanged in its layout. The first phase is early 4th c. The synagogue of Ma’oz Hayyim has to be dated to the 4th c., the last to the 8th c. three distinct phases of construction. The most anAt Hammath Tiberias the synagogue with a cen- cient phase, which is dated to the end of the 3rd or tral room and some small adjacent rooms was con- early 4th c., included a rectangular building, with an structed in the first half of the 3rd c. The building entryway to the W. Upon the remains of the wall of was reorganized at the beginning of the 4th c. with this first structure was a building in the shape of a the closing of the rooms to the S and with the open- basilica with three aisles and an apse on the S side. ing of the entry door to the N. Divided into four Upon the fragments of the mosaic flooring a menoaisles, with the central aisle adjoined by a smaller rah and a shofar were represented. In a third phase

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of the building (1st half of the 6th c.) new mosaic flooring, some fragments of which remain in the N and E sector, and the masonry platform built at the S apse, overhanging on the central aisle, were added. The building was destroyed by a fire at the beginning of the 7th c. The synagogue building of Rehov has a basilica layout divided into three aisles by pillars and is dated, in its first phase, to the 4th c. At the end of the fourth or beginning of the 5th c., a stone platform was added to the S wall and a multicolored mosaic floor; the walls were decorated with stucco and the pillars carved with some Aramaic inscriptions. To the final phase, usually dated between the 6th and 7th c., belong the restorations of the mosaic flooring, the raising of the platform, the construction of some stone benches on the two sides and the addition of a narthex at the S entry, in which a long inscription containing some ritual requirements and prohibitions was found. At Ein Gedi a rectangular hall with irregular dimensions constituted the synagogue. Archaeologists have been able to distinguish three construction phases datable from the late 2nd or early 3rd c. until the last decades of the 6th. The building in the first phase consisted of the rectangular hall with two entry doors on the E side and a white mosaic floor with a rectangular frame of black and white tiles containing three square panels decorated with very simple geometric motifs, the only quasi-complete panel is the S panel containing a swastika cross in black tiles. Subsequently the two entries to the E were blocked, the hall was expanded on the W side with the opening of three new entry doors. Third, a narthex was added to the W with a basin for ritual ablutions which was placed at the SW corner. The platform was constructed under the shelter of the W wall. The mosaic floor preserves at the center a geometric theme given by two crossed panels with some birds at the center and at the sides, facing each other two by two. On the small W aisle the mosaic tapestry contains a series of two inscriptions in Hebrew, which records the text of 1 Chr 1:1-4, the list of the zodiac, some months of the year and several patriarchs, while in three Aramaic inscriptions are recorded the names of the benefactors and a curse against those who reveal the city’s secret. The building found out Susya is composed of a rectangular hall with the major sides to the N and S, a narthex and a porticoed courtyard to the E. Two raised platforms were set against the N wall to indicate the place in which the scrolls were preserved and the place in which the synagogue reading was done. Three levels with mosaics have been found; the second contained a representation of Daniel in

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the lion’s den, although the lowest one was made of white squares and the highest level with geometric colored motifs with a representation of the chest of the law, flanked by two seven-arm candelabra. Three inscriptions in Aramaic and one in Hebrew have been found in the mosaic floor of the hall and the E portico. The date proposed for the erection of this building is the 4th c. with remodeling and reordering over the course of the 5th c., when the narthex was built, and the 6th c. Of the buildings taken into consideration, i.e., the most significant ones, only seven can be dated with a certain reliability from the 4th to 6th c. Three of these were first considered to be from the 2nd c., starting from the similarities of the architectural and stylistic type (Horvat ‘Ammudim, Caparnaum and Nabratein III). Now they are dated with some certainty respectively to the 4th, late 5th and the 6th c., thanks to the archaeological information coming from the archaeological digs and the metrological and dimensional analysis, which have seemed to converge (Milson, Art and Architecture, 83). The birth of the synagogue within the Samaritan community from the historical perspective is tied to the figure of Baba Rabbah, the Samaritan leader mentioned by the Samaritan Chronicles, a medieval document. The Chronicles attest that Baba Rabbah over the course the 4th c. constructed eight synagogues in Samaria. To date three synagogues have been discovered outside Samaria (Beit-She’an, Sha’albim, perhaps at Tel Aviv) and five within Samaria. At Khirbet Samara, one synagogue is part of a broader complex. The synagogue hall is rectangular, with maps on the E side, benches on the N and S sides, a narthex and a semicircular atrium, a courtyard on the N side, and various rooms around. The synagogue was constructed on the masonry of a Roman building. Three floor levels have been discovered in the hall. The most ancient is that made of stone slabs belonging to the previous building. The floor mosaic, which can be dated to the 4th c., belongs to the original phase of this synagogue. The mosaic with small tiles had a black background, on which three different rectangular registers were developed, are severely damaged. Over the mosaic, a floor of stone slabs was laid out, evidence of a building period that can be dated perhaps after the Samaritan revolt of 529. At al-Khirbe, near Sebaste, a synagogue in the form of a rectangle with benches for the assembly on the four sides, a paved courtyard to the S, and an exedra to the N has been found. The mosaic flooring has preserved six inscriptions in Greek and the typical theme of the seven-arm candelabra with

SYNAGOGUE

other religious symbols around. The synagogue is bench indicate the place in which the scrolls were to be dated to the 4th c., which was probably dam- placed and from which the reading was proclaimed. aged at the time of the revolt of 529. It was restored Of the frescoes on the walls, which are divided into shortly after and remained in use until the begin- five registers, the lower one depicts animals, masks ning of the 8th c. and other things; the higher register has almost vanTo the NW of Shechem there is a local town, ished, although of the three intermediary registers, which, acc. to its Samaritan tradition, is to be identi- 29 panels have been preserved, which depict scenes fied with the field acquired by Jacob (Gen 33:18-20). from the OT. The same tradition mentions the synagogue conOf all the ancient synagogues, that of Sardis is structed in 362 and confiscated by the emperor certainly the most monumental. Contained within *Zeno at the time of the revolt of 484. The present- the large complex of the gymnasium and the baths day building is found alongside a mosque, in which near the chief hub of the city, the basilica hall runs the minaret is constructed on the most ancient re- nearly 60 m (196 ft) long and 20 m (65 ft) wide; it mains of the building. was preceded by a porticoed atrium of approxiAt Khirbet Majdal the archaeological digs have mately 20 meters on the side, which during the first brought to light a *Byzantine monastery and an- phase must have been a part of the synagogue hall, other building identified with a Samaritan syna- which was even broader. The building was remodgogue, which was made up of a rectangular hall with eled over the course of the 4th c., adapting some an apse, a narthex and an atrium. Fragments of the rooms originally belonging to the apoditerium of the decorated mosaic and an inscription that recalls the gymnasium, which was constructed over the course benefactors were discovered in the hall. of the 2nd c. AD. The large room with its mosaic At Kefar Fahma some architectural elements dis- flooring and the walls covered with marble and pancovered on site, including an architrave inscribed els in opus sectile, the two beautiful aedicules set with a menorah, suggest the existence of a syna- against the E wall, the table supported by two pedesgogue building, but for which no other trace re- tals in masonry with eagles sculpted and flanked by mains. The archaeological digs conducted on Mt. two sculptures depicting two seated lions, the synGerizim have brought to light the remains of the thronon on the apse, the porticoed atrium with a octagonal church dedicated to *Mary the Mother of beautiful fountain at the center—all were completed God. The digs under the structures of the church in the 2nd half of the 4th c. have revealed the existence of a more ancient buildOn the island of Delos a building was identified ing, perhaps a synagogue or the Samaritan temple, as a synagogue in use starting from the 1st half of the which was constructed in the late Roman period 1st c. BC and into the 2nd c. AD. It was a private and destroyed, as some literary sources report, by building adapted for use as a synagogue. The buildthe emperor Zeno in order to construct the octago- ing consisted of a courtyard to the E facing the sea, a nal church. So say the *Chronicon Paschale and the series of small rooms to the S, connected to the Samaritan Chronicles, while *Procopius of Caesarea antechamber from which access was gained through in his treatise De Aedificiis simply says that permis- three doors to the assembly room, which was found sion was granted to the Samaritans to ascend the in the NW area of the building. mountain to pray until such time as Zeno decided to At Ostia, which was the port for Rome, a building build a church on the summit, without making any dating to the 4th c. was found; it was composed of a reference to a previous sacred building. room for gatherings with three entry doors, which Even outside the Palestinian territory some syna- opened to a vestibule with a staircase and a propygogues have been found. The most famous is cer- laeum. In the SE corner of the room there was an tainly that of *Dura Europos. The city on the Eu- aedicule with two columns, where Torah scolls were phrates River was destroyed by the Persians in 256. likely stored. Set against the SW wall there was a Archaeological digs have brought to light a syna- raised platform, which served to accommodate those gogue among other buildings, whose walls have pre- who proclaimed the reading or the more noteworthy served the frescoes intact. The dedicatory inscrip- individuals of the community. Close to the S wall tion reports the date of 244–245. Rectangular in arose another room with some benches along its S shape, the building was preceded to the E by a porti- wall, perhaps a room for study, and more to the E, a coed atrium on the three sides, from which one ap- room considered to have been a hospice for strangproached through two doors to the synagogue hall. ers. Under the walls of this building were unearthed On the inside, benches ran along the sides of all four walls belonging perhaps to a more ancient synagogue. walls. On the W side a niche and a more prominent An inscription found during the excavation men-

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SYNAXIS

tions Faustus, who constructed the synagogue and Synagogue: Studies in Origins, Archaeology and Architecture, organized the aedicule for the law scrolls. Situated New York 1975; V.C. Corbo, Cafarnao. 1. Gli edifici della città, Jerusalem 1975; M. Avi-Yonah, Synagogues, in Encyclopedia of between the Roman villa and a necropolis, the syna- Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land 4, Jerusalem 1978, gogue of Bova Marina, which is dated to the 4th c., is 1129-1138; J.F. Strange, Archaeology and the Religion of Judaism composed of some rooms around a central room, in Palestine, in ANRW II. Principat 19.1. Religion (Judentum: with mosaic flooring, in which are represented, Algemeines; Palästinisches Judentum), Berlin-New York 1979, within the geometric motifs, some of the most com- 646-685; A.Th. Kraabel, The Diaspora Synagogue: Archaeological and Epigraphic Evidence Since Sukenik, in ANRW II. Princimon Jewish symbols, candelabrum, cedar, palm pat 19.1. Religion (Judentum: Algemeines; Palästinisches Judenand horn. Over the course of the 6th c. the building tum), Berlin-New York 1979, 477-510; L. Levine (ed.), Ancient underwent several adaptations: an atrium was cre- Synagogues Revealed, Jerusalem 1981; Id., The Synagogue in ated to the W of the synagogue hall, on the wall of Late Antiquity, Philadelphia 1987; R. Hachlili (ed.), Ancient Synagogues in Israel, Oxford-Haifa 1989; H.C. Kee, The Transwhich an apse was constructed with a raised bema formation of the Synagogue After 70 C.E.: Its Import for Early and a parapet in front. The building and the entire Christianity: New Testament Studies 36 (1990) 1-24; S. Loffreda, site was abandoned at the beginning of the 7th c. A Capernaum, in New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavasmall synagogue, situated at the center of the com- tions in the Holy Land 1, Jerusalem 1993, 291-295; L.I. Levine, Synagogues, in New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavaplex, with an apse on the W wall, made up part of a tions in the Holy Land 4, Jerusalem 1993, 1421-1424; I. Magen, villa discovered to the S of Tunis. The inscription dis- Samaritan Synagogues, in ibid., 1424-1427; L. Boffo, Iscrizioni covered in the mosaic flooring of one of the villa’s greche e latine per lo studio della Bibbia, Brescia 1994; D. Urman rooms mentions a Juliana, who ordered the con- - P.V.M. Flesher (eds.), Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis struction of the synagogue. The dating of the build- and Archaeological Discovery, Leiden-New York-Cologne 1995; S.S. Miller, On the Number of Synagogues in the Cities of ’Ereẓ ing is doubtful and is placed in the 4th, 5th or 6th c. Israel: Journal of Jewish Studies 49 (1998) 51-66; L. Levine, The Although traces of the ancient synagogues at Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years, New HavenRome have not remained, information about them London 1999; J.S. Kloppenborg Verbin, Dating Theodotos (CIJ exists thanks to numerous pieces of epigraphic evi- II 1404): Journal of Jewish Studies 51 (2000) 243-280; A. Runesson, The Origins of the Synagogue, Stockholm 2001; J. Magness, dence. There are nearly 40 inscriptions that mention The Question of the Synagogue: The Problem of Typology, in JuRoman synagogues, the number of which is esti- daism in Late Antiquity. Part III, vol. IV. Where We Stand: Ismated from 10 to 16 buildings, in use from the end of sues and Debates in Ancient Judaism: The Special Problem of the the 2nd to the entire 5th c. (Levine, Ancient Syna- Synagogue, Leiden-Boston-Cologne 2001, 1-48; J. Wilkinson, From Synagogue to Church: The Traditional Design, Londongogue, 263-266). New York 2002; B. Olsson - M. Zetterholm (eds.), The Ancient The synagogue building, once it had been pro- Synagogue from Its Origins Until 200 C.E., Stockholm 2003; Ch. claimed as such, performed various functions: pri- Perrot, Synagogue. I-VII, in Supplément au Dictionnaire de la marily serving the community assembly for the Bible 13, Paris 2003, 653-751; E. Netzer, The Synagogues from the study of the law; as a tribunal for solving internal Second Temple Period According to Archaeological Finds and in Light of the Literary Sources, in One Land—Many Cultures: Arquestions; for organizing the collection of the offer- chaeological Studies in Honour of Stanislao Loffreda, OFM, Jeings to send to the temple of Jerusalem; as a hospice rusalem 2003, 277-285; D. Milson, Art and Architecture of the for welcoming of strangers; for helping the poor, Synagogue in Late Antique Palestine: In the Shadow of the widows and orphans; and organizing common Church, Leiden-Boston 2006. meals. This synagogue became a place of commuC. Pappalardo nity prayer probably first in the Diaspora and later in Palestine, where until AD 70 the “house” of prayer par excellence remained the temple (Neh 8:5-6; 9:3; SYNAXIS. A term almost unknown before the ap2 Macc 8:27; Mt 6:5-6; Mk 11:17). After the destruction pearance of Christianity, which became a technical of the temple, the situation changed; the cultic func- term in the *Byzantine *liturgy to refer both to the tion of the synagogue broadened, becoming the assembly of the faithful and the *Eucharist, more chief function, and some customs of the temple specifically *Communion. Synaxis and the synonym were transferred to it, contributing to the birth of a synagogue come from the same Greek root. To distrue and proper synagogue liturgy, bringing it about tinguish their assemblies from those of the Jews and that the building increasingly became the pivot subsequently from those of the heretics, the first around which all the activities of the Jewish com- Christians adopted a different ending (see Epiph., munity starting from the 1st c. AD onward revolved. Panar. 30,18). *Cyril of Jerusalem clearly distinguished the assemblies which took place on Sunday H. Kohl - C. Watzinger, Antike Synagogen in Galilea, Leipzig and the day of the Lord’s ascension, from which he 1916; B. Lifschitz, Donateurs et fondateurs dans les synagogues established the order of the readings (Cat. XIV,24), juives. Répertoire des dédicaces grecques relatives à la construction et à la réfection des synagogues, Paris 1967; J. Gutmann, The from those during which his catechetical instruc-

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