Synagogue? Complete

ID: 107

Building type: unknown

Context:

urban/rural

Site:

Inscriptions:

128

Description:

Now curated in Beth Shemesh under IAA inventory number 1968-1188, the inscription entered the collection in 1968, when the Department of Antiquities purchased it from an antiquities dealer in Hebron. Although its exact findspot is unknown, it is generally assumed to originate from the Hebron area. The dealer later recalled that he had acquired the piece from a local peasant. As D. Barag observed (IEJ 22, 1972, nn. 1–2), that period saw extensive clandestine digging in the region, including at the ancient synagogue sites of Eshtemoa (es-Samuʿ) and Khirbet Sûsiya; an origin from one of these locations therefore cannot be excluded.