Synagogue Complete
ID: 191
Building type: unknown
Context:
rural
Description:
Rectangular in plan, the structure measures approximately 15.4 by 8.05 meters. Its long axis is nearly north–south, with a slight eastward deviation that aligns it toward Mount Gerizim. The excavator reported no evidence of internal partitions. Access to the principal prayer space may have been through a small vestibule on the south, which has not survived. E. L. Sukenik proposed that the synagogue originated in the fourth century CE. He further suggested that it was repaved in the aftermath of the Samaritan revolts in the fifth–sixth centuries CE, a period during which the building may have suffered at least partial destruction. The Samaritan inscription is associated with this renovation and most likely dates to the sixth century. Plan source: Reich, R., 1994, fig. 1. Map legend: a–c indicate patches of the upper floor; d marks a central roundel with a Greek inscription; e denotes a Samaritan inscription; f represents a fragmentary inscription in Greek (or possibly Samaritan). Further reading: Barag, D. 2009. Samaritan writing and writings, [in:] Hanna M. Cotton, Robert G. Hoyland, J.J. Price and David J. Wasserstein (eds.), From Hellenism to Islam. Cultural and linguistic change in the Roman Near East, 303-323. Pummer, R. 1999. Samaritan Synagoguges and Jewish Synagogues: Similarities and differences [in:] Steven Fine (ed.), Jews, Christians, and Polytheists in the Ancient Synagogue: Cultural Interaction during the Greco-Roman Period. London and New York, 118-160. Pummer, R. 2016. The Samaritans: A Profile, Cambridge: Eerdmans Publishing. Reich, R. 1994. The Plan Of The Samaritan Synagogue At Sha'alvim, Israel Exploration Journal 44: 228-233. Sukenik, E.L. 1949. The Samaritan Synagogue at Salbit, Louis M. Rabinowitz Fund Bulletin I, 1949: 25-30. https://synagogues.kinneret.ac.il/synagogues/shaalvim/