Synagogue Complete
ID: 45
Building type: broadhouse synagogue
Context:
urban/rural
Site:
Susiya
Description:
The structure underwent multiple building campaigns that included initial construction, subsequent repairs, and later refurbishments. Its fundamental scheme appears to have been set in an early phase, likely in the fourth century CE: a forecourt led to a narthex, beyond which lay a large assembly hall and the first of two ancillary rooms; a gallery was added above at a later date. The complex is oriented northward toward Jerusalem. The northern wall, markedly thicker than the others, probably accommodated the Torah ark; it also preserves evidence of two niches. The earliest pavement consisted of a plain white mosaic. During a second phase a polychrome mosaic floor was installed, and it was reworked and patched more than once thereafter. In its mature state, the hall’s mosaic carpet was divided into three panels that featured geometric ornament, a zodiac cycle, an image of a Torah shrine with an ark flanked by two menorahs, and, apparently, a scene of Daniel in the lions’ den. In the eighth century, figural elements were replaced by non-figural geometric designs, probably in response to iconoclastic currents. In addition to the mosaics, numerous marble fragments inscribed with words or letters were recovered. These derive from chancel screens, a carved menorah, and other components of the bema dating to the building’s period of florescence, perhaps in the fifth century. The complex was converted into a mosque in the eighth–ninth centuries. An Arabic inscription from the southern sector of the courtyard records the year 905 CE. Inscriptions: - Ten major inscriptions and eight small fragments preserving only a few letters were documented; several of the small pieces may belong to chancel screens (CIIP IV 3880–3881). - CIIP IV 3870: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0001/ - CIIP IV 3871: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0003/ - CIIP IV 3872: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0002/ - CIIP IV 3873: fragmentary - CIIP IV 3874: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0004/ - CIIP IV 3875: fragmentary - CIIP IV 3876: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0008/ - CIIP IV 3877 - CIIP IV 3878: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0005/ - CIIP IV 3879: fragmentary - CIIP IV 3880 (right-hand arch of the chancel screen) - CIIP IV 3881: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0006/ (central arch of the chancel screen) - CIIP IV 3882: https://library.brown.edu/iip/viewinscr/ksus0007/ (left-hand arch of the chancel screen) - CIIP IV 3883–3887: fragmentary Plan source: - CIIP IV, fig. 3870 Bibliography: - CIIP IV 3870–3887. The synagogue, p. 1415 - Milson 2007: 467–468 - Werlin 2015: 142–164 - https://synagogues.kinneret.ac.il/synagogues/susiya/ - https://library.brown.edu/iip/