Synagogue Complete
ID: 190
Building type: unknown
Context:
urban
Inscriptions:
Description:
Archaeological work concentrated in Zone P1, a sector adjoining the medieval town’s southern edge. The area was selected because a conspicuous gap in the fortifications at this point was attributed by the excavator to the Mamluk assault of 1261. During the 2014 campaign, a bilingual inscription in Greek and Samaritan Aramaic was recovered from a poorly preserved structure within this vicinity. The structure that contained the inscription survives only in fragmentary condition. Its principal chamber—often termed the “plastered hall” because its floor and walls were covered with white lime plaster—was trapezoidal, measuring approximately 7.5 by 6.5 m. Three stone pillar bases indicate that the ceiling was once carried by a row of supports. The main doorway lay in the north wall, and a secondary opening may have existed on the east. On the south side, excavators uncovered a semicircular recess about 0.75 m in length, interpreted as a later mihrab. A mosaic pavement occupied the southern half of the hall, with the inscription positioned near the center of this mosaic. Ceramic and glass finds retrieved from deposits beneath the walls provide a basis for dating the construction of the synagogue to the fourth or fifth century CE. The building’s subsequent development is less certain. The “plastered hall” appears to postdate the mosaic floor, perhaps belonging to a seventh- or eighth-century CE phase. The excavator suggested that the initial phase may have ended around the time of Justinian’s legislation (ca. 527–531 CE) prohibiting Samaritan assemblies; however, this proposal is not supported by archaeological evidence. For further discussion, see: Tal, Oren. 2020. “A Samaritan Synagogue of the Byzantine Period at Apollonia-Arsuf/Sozousa?” Religions 11, no. 3: 127. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11030127 Tal, Oren. 2015. “A Bilingual Greek-Samaritan Inscription from Apollonia-Arsuf/Sozousa: Yet More Evidence of the Use of εἷς θεὸς μόνος Formula Inscriptions among the Samaritans.” ZPE 194: 169–75.