Synagogue Complete
ID: 145
Building type: basilical synagogue
Context:
urban/rural
Inscriptions:
Description:
Erected between the late fourth and early fifth centuries CE, the synagogue comprised a central hall measuring roughly 18 by 12 meters. South of this space lay a large courtyard with a cistern at its center. The original flooring of the main hall was a mosaic. From this pavement, a single preserved panel portrays a youth accompanied by a sword, helmet, and shield; an Aramaic inscription runs along the inner border of the panel’s frame. The image may represent David with the weapons taken from Goliath (1 Samuel 17:54) and could have formed part of a broader cycle of biblical scenes, now lost apart from this fragment. Approximately a century after the building’s construction, the complex underwent a thorough refurbishment that included the installation of a stone floor. A further remodeling occurred at the beginning of the seventh century CE, when the principal entrance was shifted from the south to the north wall and the former southern doorway was sealed. Beneath the eastern threshold of the new northern façade, excavators discovered a bronze amulet inscribed in Hebrew and/or Aramaic. The text records a petition by Yose son of Zenobia to God for authority over the village’s inhabitants; for this inscription, see Ilan 1993: 1030; Beyer 1994: 256 (ggMR 3); Hachlili 2013: 538. Because it is a concealed amulet rather than a public monumental text, it is not entered in our database. In this final phase, two rooms were added south of the main hall, adjoining the courtyard; this suite functioned as a beth midrash and is treated as a separate unit. Site plan source: Ilan 1993: 1029. © synagogues.kinneret.ac.il Further references: - Ilan, Z., “Meroth,” in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, 1993: 1028–1031. - Milson, D. W., Art and Architecture of the Synagogue in Late Antique Palestine: In the Shadow of the Church, Leiden, 2007: 434–439. - Hachlili, R., Ancient Synagogues—Archaeology and Art: New Discoveries and Current Research, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2013: 69–72. https://synagogues.kinneret.ac.il/synagogues/meroth/