Meiron ...excavation results from the synagogues at Khirbet Shema‘ and nearby Meiron dated both of these structures to the latter half of the third century, even...

Meiron

70 35.44815,32.979553,0 Khirbet Shema‘ ...Fig. 2: Plans of two neighbouring third-century synagogues: Meiron (top); Khirbet Shema‘ (bottom). Courtesy of Eric Meyers. © All rights reserved. 1981), 98–115; Roni...

Khirbet Shema‘

78 35.215353,31.636092,0 Gamla ...in the Golan date all the local synagogues (now numbering around thirty, Gamla excepted) to the fifth and sixth centuries.1 1 Zvi U. Ma‘oz, ‘Golan’, in The...

Gamla

75 35.74187,32.90294,0 Tiberias ...of artistic representation, be it the zodiac, a cluster of Jewish symbols (Tiberias and Sepphoris), biblical scenes (Sepphoris, Khirbet Wadi Hamam, and Huqoq), or...

Tiberias

77 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Capernaum ...facet of the institution. Some structures were monumental and imposing (e.g., Capernaum), while others were modest and unassuming (e.g., Khirbet Shema‘); some had a...

Capernaum

80 35.57543,32.88093,0 Capernaum ...art. For instance, despite geographical and chronological propinquity, Capernaum is worlds apart from Hammat Tiberias, as Rehov is from Bet Alpha and as Jericho...

Capernaum

73 35.57543,32.88093,0 Capernaum ...architectural considerations: the Galilean-type synagogue (e.g., Chorazim and Capernaum) was generally dated to the late second or early third centuries; the...

Capernaum

80 35.57543,32.88093,0 Japhia ...and Huqoq), or what might be animal representations of the tribes of Israel (Japhia). Thus, the varied topographical, geographical, and climatic elements in the...

Japhia

79 Horvat Rimmon ...and Rabbinization were found at only four other sites throughout Palestine—Horvat Rimmon, En Gedi, Hammat Tiberias, and possibly a fragment of one at Merot.6 Fig. 8...

Horvat Rimmon

77 34.859426,31.394373,0 Ma‘on ...fragment of one at Merot.6 Fig. 8: Reconstruction of a marble menorah from the Ma‘on synagogue. N. Slouschz, ‘Concerning the Excavations and/or the Synagogue at...

Ma‘on

81 35.132746,31.409891,0 En Semsem ...David (Gaza and probably Merot; Fig. 11), Daniel (Susiya, Naʿaran, and perhaps En Semsem in the Golan), the crossing of the Red Sea (Khirbet Wadi Hamam, Huqoq), Aaron...

En Semsem

81 Huqoq ...(Tiberias and Sepphoris), biblical scenes (Sepphoris, Khirbet Wadi Hamam, and Huqoq), or what might be animal representations of the tribes of Israel (Japhia)...

Huqoq

80 35.4958,32.879897222,0 Huqoq ...Synagogue of Roman-Byzantine Palestine 19 Fig. 12: Figure of Samson from the Huqoq synagogue. Courtesy of Jodi Magness. Photograph by Jim Haberman. © All rights...

Huqoq

80 35.4958,32.879897222,0 Sepphoris ...representation, be it the zodiac, a cluster of Jewish symbols (Tiberias and Sepphoris), biblical scenes (Sepphoris, Khirbet Wadi Hamam, and Huqoq), or what might be...

Sepphoris

78 35.279123,32.753079,0 Gaza ...invoked might include the reign of an emperor (Bet Alpha), a municipal era (Gaza, Ashkelon), the creation of the world (Susiya, Bet Alpha), sabbatical years...

Gaza

78 34.46203,31.503959,0 Barʿam ...Levine (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1981), 133–39 (137) (Alma and Barʿam). 1. Diversity in the Ancient Synagogue of Roman-Byzantine Palestine...

Barʿam

79 35.414807,33.045138,0 Bet Alpha ...same artisans, Marianos and his son Hanina, laid the mosaic floors in both the Bet Alpha and Bet Shean A synagogues, the style and content at each site are strikingly...

Bet Alpha

81 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Bet Alpha ...rare. The various dates invoked might include the reign of an emperor (Bet Alpha), a municipal era (Gaza, Ashkelon), the creation of the world (Susiya, Bet...

Bet Alpha

73 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Bet Shean ...oral reports then in circulation) (Fig. 4). Clearly, then, the floors of these Bet Shean synagogues, ranging from strictly aniconic patterns to elaborate...

Bet Shean

81 35.49632,32.49728,0 Susiya ...(Bet Alpha), a municipal era (Gaza, Ashkelon), the creation of the world (Susiya, Bet Alpha), sabbatical years (Susiya), or the Shevat, (7) and Adar. Abraham...

Susiya

76 35.102467,31.406065,0 Alma ...Alpha and Bet Shean, while the third “made the lintel” in the synagogues at Alma and Barʿam in the Upper Galilee.12 Inscriptions mentioning the date of a...

Alma

78 Alma ...by Lee I. Levine (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1981), 133–39 (137) (Alma and Barʿam). 1. Diversity in the Ancient Synagogue of Roman-Byzantine...

Alma

Hammat Tiberias

77 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Jericho ...is worlds apart from Hammat Tiberias, as Rehov is from Bet Alpha and as Jericho is from Naʿaran. The cluster of five synagogue buildings that functioned...

Jericho

74 35.443876,31.8700465,0 Khirbet Shema‘ ...and imposing (e.g., Capernaum), while others were modest and unassuming (e.g., Khirbet Shema‘); some had a basilical plan with the focus on the short wall at one end of the...

Khirbet Shema‘

81 35.215353,31.636092,0 Capernaum ...in the Ancient Synagogue of Roman-Byzantine Palestine 13 Fig. 5: The Capernaum synagogue. Top: Façade reconstruction. Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger, Antike...

Capernaum

73 35.57543,32.88093,0 Khirbet Wadi Hamam ...Naʿaran, and perhaps En Semsem in the Golan), the crossing of the Red Sea (Khirbet Wadi Hamam, Huqoq), Aaron and the Tabernacle-Temple appurtenances and offerings...

Khirbet Wadi Hamam

77 Khirbet Wadi Hamam ...and the Tabernacle-Temple appurtenances and offerings (Sepphoris), Samson (Khirbet Wadi Hamam, Huqoq; Fig. 12), and possibly symbols of the tribes (Japhia).8 7 Rachel...

Khirbet Wadi Hamam

77 Bet Shean ...other in the languages used, building plans, and architecture. These include Bet Shean A, just north of the city wall, Bet Shean B near the southwestern city gate...

Bet Shean

79 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...of five synagogue buildings that functioned simultaneously in sixth-century Bet Shean and its environs is a striking case in point, as they differ from each other in...

Bet Shean

78 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...its geometric mosaics. However, the mosaic floor in the prayer room of the Bet Shean B synagogue features inhabited scrolls and 10 Diversity and...

Bet Shean

77 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Alpha ...the representations of the zodiac signs and seasons (e.g., Hammat Tiberias, Bet Alpha, Sepphoris, and Naʿaran) or biblical figures and scenes. Moreover, שלום( the...

Bet Alpha

78 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Susiya ...a broadhouse plan, were more compact, with the focus on the long wall (e.g., Susiya); some faced Jerusalem, as evidenced by their façades and main entrances (the...

Susiya

Gaza

73 34.46203,31.503959,0 Bet Shean ...Eretz-Israel (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1987), nos. 4 and 5 (Bet Alpha and Bet Shean) (Hebrew); Joseph Naveh, ‘Ancient Synagogue Inscriptions’, in Ancient...

Bet Shean

81 35.49632,32.49728,0 Simonias ...was not uncommon. Around the turn of the third century, the residents of Simonias (in the Galilee) solicited the help of Rabbi Judah I in finding someone who...

Simonias

75 35.219912,32.701249,0 Jericho ...3 [1932]: 15–26, [p. 20] [Hebrew]). Fig. 9: Part of the mosaic floor in the Jericho synagogue. Photo by Gilead Peli. © All rights reserved. Beginning with the late...

Jericho

78 35.443876,31.8700465,0 Jericho ...to Jews during that year.13 Another inscription, from the synagogue in Jericho, acknowledges donations by its congregants in poetic language reminiscent of...

Jericho

73 35.443876,31.8700465,0 Nevoraya ...theory (Fig. 2). Nahman Avigad’s decipherment of the previously enigmatic Nevoraya (or Nabratein) synagogue inscriptions indicates clearly that the building was...

Nevoraya

76 35.516959,33.013309,0 Gush Halav ...the 1970s and 1980s, other ‘Galilean’-type synagogues (Horvat Ammudim, Gush Halav, and Chorazim) were similarly dated to the late third or early fourth century...

Gush Halav

73 35.44694,33.02216,0 Horvat Sumaqa ...i.e., directly toward Jerusalem. A number of synagogues, such as the Horvat Sumaqa building on the Carmel range, which was built along a largely east-west axis...

Horvat Sumaqa

71 Tiberias ...on the mosaic floor of the Hammat Tiberias synagogue. Moshe Dothan, Hammath Tiberias (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983), plates 10/11. Courtesy of the...

Tiberias

78 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Tiberias ...floor of the fourth-century Hammat Tiberias synagogue. Moshe Dothan, Hammath Tiberias (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983), plates 10/11. Courtesy of the...

Tiberias

79 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Japhia ...intended to face southeast, toward Jerusalem. The Lower Galilean synagogue of Japhia also lies on an east-west axis, and its excavators assume that it was probably...

Japhia

80 Merot ...include the Aqedah (Bet Alpha, Sepphoris; Fig. 10), David (Gaza and probably Merot; Fig. 11), Daniel (Susiya, Naʿaran, and perhaps En Semsem in the Golan), the...

Merot

79 En Gedi ...designs as well as a stylized Torah chest in the centre (Fig. 9), while the En Gedi mosaic displays four birds in its centre surrounded by a carpet of geometric...

En Gedi

78 35.38899,31.46017,0 En Gedi ...and bolster national-religious memories and aspirations.9 One inscription from En Gedi lists in its opening paragraph the Fathers of the World according to 1 Chron...

En Gedi

81 35.38899,31.46017,0 Naʿaran ...the zodiac signs and seasons (e.g., Hammat Tiberias, Bet Alpha, Sepphoris, and Naʿaran) or biblical figures and scenes. Moreover, שלום( the Jericho synagogue...

Naʿaran

81 35.423662,31.8998115,0 Sepphoris ...in Tiberias (where ten of the eleven dedicatory inscriptions are in Greek) and Sepphoris (where thirteen of twenty-four inscriptions are in Greek), and further west to...

Sepphoris

81 35.279123,32.753079,0 Sepphoris ...Hamam, Huqoq), Aaron and the Tabernacle-Temple appurtenances and offerings (Sepphoris), Samson (Khirbet Wadi Hamam, Huqoq; Fig. 12), and possibly symbols of the...

Sepphoris

78 35.279123,32.753079,0 Sepphoris ...of the zodiac signs and seasons (e.g., Hammat Tiberias, Bet Alpha, Sepphoris, and Naʿaran) or biblical figures and scenes. Moreover, שלום( the Jericho...

Sepphoris

69 35.279123,32.753079,0 Theodotos synagogue in Jerusalem ...54–55). However, there were also some synagogues, such as the first-century Theodotos synagogue in Jerusalem, that operated under the patronage of a wealthy family. Indeed, a number of...

Theodotos synagogue in Jerusalem

78 35.234167,31.776667,0 Hammat Tiberias ...the opposite end of the hall (e.g., Bet Alpha); some were very ornate (e.g., Hammat Tiberias), while others were far more modestly decorated (e.g., Jericho). No matter how...

Hammat Tiberias

79 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Hammat Tiberias ...found at only four other sites throughout Palestine—Horvat Rimmon, En Gedi, Hammat Tiberias, and possibly a fragment of one at Merot.6 Fig. 8: Reconstruction of a marble...

Hammat Tiberias

78 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Rehov ...Temple’s destruction (Nabratein). The unique halakhic inscription from Rehov, south of Bet Shean, features laws relating to the sabbatical year, listing the...

Rehov

73 35.49807,32.45663,0 Meiron ...Rabbinization Fig. 2: Plans of two neighbouring third-century synagogues: Meiron (top); Khirbet Shema‘ (bottom). Courtesy of Eric Meyers. © All rights...

Meiron

78 35.44815,32.979553,0 ʿEn Neshut ...and Rabbinization Fig. 7: Menorah carved on a decorated capital from the ʿEn Neshut synagogue. Zvi U. Ma‘oz, ‘‘En Neshut’, in The New Encyclopedia of...

ʿEn Neshut

76 Eshtemoa ...Southern Judaean Foothills Four synagogues discovered in the twentieth century—Eshtemoa, Susiya, Maʿon, and Anim—can be characterized as a distinct architectural group...

Eshtemoa

81 35.06611,31.39671,0 Eshtemoa ...menorot, each made of marble imported from Asia Minor, while those in Eshtemoa and Maʿon reached the height of a human being and may have been used, inter...

Eshtemoa

72 35.06611,31.39671,0 Eshtemoa ...also exhibit a large degree of diversity—two are broadhouse-type buildings (Eshtemoa and Susiya) and two are basilica-type structures (Anim and Maʿon)...

Eshtemoa

78 35.06611,31.39671,0 Maʿon ...Three of the four southern Judaean synagogue buildings (Eshtemoa, Susiya, and Maʿon) had three-dimensional menorot, each made of marble imported from Asia Minor...

Maʿon

80 35.132746,31.409891,0 Maʿon ...each made of marble imported from Asia Minor, while those in Eshtemoa and Maʿon reached the height of a human being and may have been used, inter alia, for...

Maʿon

76 35.132746,31.409891,0 Gaza ...surrounded by a carpet of geometric designs. The floors of three synagogues—Gaza, nearby Maʿon (Judaea), and Bet Shean B—are decorated with carpets featuring...

Gaza

78 34.46203,31.503959,0 Bet Alpha ...propinquity, Capernaum is worlds apart from Hammat Tiberias, as Rehov is from Bet Alpha and as Jericho is from Naʿaran. The cluster of five synagogue buildings that...

Bet Alpha

80 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Bet Alpha ...the first two, as noted above, laid the mosaic floors of the synagogues at Bet Alpha and Bet Shean, while the third “made the lintel” in the synagogues at Alma and...

Bet Alpha

77 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Bet Alpha ...and Rabbinization Fig. 10: The Aqedah (Binding of Isaac) scene in the Bet Alpha synagogue. Eleazar Lipa Sukenik, The Ancient Synagogue of Beth Alpha...

Bet Alpha

73 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Bet Alpha ...Israel Exploration Society. © All rights reserved. Bottom right: zodiac from Bet Alpha. Nahman Avigad, ‘Beth Alpha’, in The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological...

Bet Alpha

79 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Susiya ...Foothills Four synagogues discovered in the twentieth century—Eshtemoa, Susiya, Maʿon, and Anim—can be characterized as a distinct architectural group on the...

Susiya

74 35.102467,31.406065,0 Susiya ...notable. Three of the four southern Judaean synagogue buildings (Eshtemoa, Susiya, and Maʿon) had three-dimensional menorot, each made of marble imported from...

Susiya

77 35.102467,31.406065,0 Bet Shean ...and architecture. These include Bet Shean A, just north of the city wall, Bet Shean B near the southwestern city gate, Bet Alpha to the west, Maʿoz Hayyim to the...

Bet Shean

76 35.49632,32.49728,0 Rehov ...southwestern city gate, Bet Alpha to the west, Maʿoz Hayyim to the east, and Rehov to the south. The artistic representations in these synagogues are about as...

Rehov

79 35.49807,32.45663,0 Khirbet Shema‘ ...or fifth century. Soon thereafter, excavation results from the synagogues at Khirbet Shema‘ and nearby Meiron dated both of these structures to the latter half of the...

Khirbet Shema‘

79 35.215353,31.636092,0 Sepphoris ...zodiac, a cluster of Jewish symbols (Tiberias and Sepphoris), biblical scenes (Sepphoris, Khirbet Wadi Hamam, and Huqoq), or what might be animal representations of the...

Sepphoris

81 35.279123,32.753079,0 Huqoq ...En Semsem in the Golan), the crossing of the Red Sea (Khirbet Wadi Hamam, Huqoq), Aaron and the Tabernacle-Temple appurtenances and offerings (Sepphoris)...

Huqoq

76 35.4958,32.879897222,0 Huqoq ...appurtenances and offerings (Sepphoris), Samson (Khirbet Wadi Hamam, Huqoq; Fig. 12), and possibly symbols of the tribes (Japhia).8 7 Rachel Hachlili...

Huqoq

71 35.4958,32.879897222,0 Jericho ...(e.g., Hammat Tiberias), while others were far more modestly decorated (e.g., Jericho). No matter how close to one another geographically or chronologically, no two...

Jericho

80 35.443876,31.8700465,0 Meiron ...basilical plan with the focus on the short wall at one end of the hall (e.g., Meiron), while others, having a broadhouse plan, were more compact, with the focus on...

Meiron

80 35.44815,32.979553,0 Meiron ...was constructed in the sixth century (564 CE), while the evidence from the Meiron synagogue attests to a late third- or early fourth-century date. Throughout the...

Meiron

77 35.44815,32.979553,0 Khirbet Shema‘ ...early third centuries; the transitional, broadhouse, type (e.g., Eshtemoa and Khirbet Shema‘) to the late third and fourth centuries; and the later, basilical, type (e.g...

Khirbet Shema‘

80 35.215353,31.636092,0 Tiberias ...Thus, the prominence of Greek across the Lower Galilee—from the synagogues in Tiberias (where ten of the eleven dedicatory inscriptions are in Greek) and Sepphoris...

Tiberias

80 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Tiberias ...cultural panorama. Flanked by the two urban centres, Sepphoris on the west and Tiberias on the east, the region’s more navigable terrain contained better roads and...

Tiberias

81 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Tiberias ...(Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001). Dothan, Moshe, Hammath Tiberias (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983). Epstein, Jacob N., ‘Yerushalmi...

Tiberias

81 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Capernaum ...of Roman-Byzantine Palestine 15 between the synagogues of the Upper Galilee (Capernaum and Chorazim aside) and the Golan are also quite blatant, the latter displaying...

Capernaum

79 35.57543,32.88093,0 e-Dikke ...used in a number of Galilean- type synagogues), and all—with the exception of e-Dikke—had a single entrance oriented in different directions. In contrast to the...

e-Dikke

80 35.627024,32.926755,0 Chorazim ...and architectural considerations: the Galilean-type synagogue (e.g., Chorazim and Capernaum) was generally dated to the late second or early third centuries...

Chorazim

71 35.564075,32.911712,0 Chorazim ...and 1980s, other ‘Galilean’-type synagogues (Horvat Ammudim, Gush Halav, and Chorazim) were similarly dated to the late third or early fourth century. Finally...

Chorazim

79 35.564075,32.911712,0 Chorazim ...Palestine 15 between the synagogues of the Upper Galilee (Capernaum and Chorazim aside) and the Golan are also quite blatant, the latter displaying a wider...

Chorazim

74 35.564075,32.911712,0 Capernaum ...chronology. First and foremost, the findings of the Franciscan excavations at Capernaum redated what had been considered the classic ‘early’ synagogue from the...

Capernaum

80 35.57543,32.88093,0 Eshtemoa ...is also notable. Three of the four southern Judaean synagogue buildings (Eshtemoa, Susiya, and Maʿon) had three-dimensional menorot, each made of marble imported...

Eshtemoa

75 35.06611,31.39671,0 Maʿon ...by a carpet of geometric designs. The floors of three synagogues—Gaza, nearby Maʿon (Judaea), and Bet Shean B—are decorated with carpets featuring inhabited scroll...

Maʿon

80 35.132746,31.409891,0 En Gedi ...of Roman-Byzantine Palestine 21 Fig. 13: Inscription on a mosaic floor in the En Gedi synagogue. Lee I. Levine, Ancient Synagogues Revealed, 141. Courtesy of the...

En Gedi

81 35.38899,31.46017,0 En Gedi ...while an Aramaic inscription located in the western aisle of the En Gedi synagogue addresses a number of important local concerns: He who causes...

En Gedi

67 35.38899,31.46017,0 Merot ...Rimmon, En Gedi, Hammat Tiberias, and possibly a fragment of one at Merot.6 Fig. 8: Reconstruction of a marble menorah from the Ma‘on synagogue. N...

Merot

70 Naʿaran ...Sepphoris; Fig. 10), David (Gaza and probably Merot; Fig. 11), Daniel (Susiya, Naʿaran, and perhaps En Semsem in the Golan), the crossing of the Red Sea (Khirbet Wadi...

Naʿaran

81 35.423662,31.8998115,0 Ashkelon ...might include the reign of an emperor (Bet Alpha), a municipal era (Gaza, Ashkelon), the creation of the world (Susiya, Bet Alpha), sabbatical years (Susiya), or...

Ashkelon

76 34.54732,31.66426,0 Susiya ...Ashkelon), the creation of the world (Susiya, Bet Alpha), sabbatical years (Susiya), or the Shevat, (7) and Adar. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Peace. (8) Hananiah...

Susiya

78 35.102467,31.406065,0 Nabratein ...Synagogue of Roman-Byzantine Palestine 23 Jerusalem Temple’s destruction (Nabratein). The unique halakhic inscription from Rehov, south of Bet Shean, features laws...

Nabratein

76 35.516959,33.013309,0 Bet Shean ...assume that it was probably oriented to the east. Moreover, the Sepphoris and Bet Shean synagogues, the latter located just north of the Byzantine city wall (Fig. 3)...

Bet Shean

80 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...decidedly away from Jerusalem. Even if one were to assume that the Bet Shean building was Samaritan (as has been suggested by some), we would encounter the...

Bet Shean

69 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...Fig. 3: Two synagogues facing northwest, away from Jerusalem: Left: Bet Shean A. Nehemiah Zori, ‘The Ancient Synagogue at Beth-Shean’, Eretz-Israel 8 (1967)...

Bet Shean

72 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...Fig. 4: Mosaic floors from three sixth-century synagogues in the Bet Shean area. Top: halakhic inscription from Rehov. Lee I. Levine, Ancient Synagogues...

Bet Shean

71 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...primarily to the ubiquitous use of mosaic floors throughout the Galilee and Bet Shean areas, the Jordan Valley, the coastal region, and even parts of Judaea. The...

Bet Shean

78 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...designs. The floors of three synagogues—Gaza, nearby Maʿon (Judaea), and Bet Shean B—are decorated with carpets featuring inhabited scroll patterns and vine...

Bet Shean

75 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Alpha ...Nilometer. No-less-extensive artistic representations were found in the Bet Alpha synagogue, which incorporates Jewish and pagan motifs that are expressed...

Bet Alpha

74 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Bet Alpha ...Alpha), a municipal era (Gaza, Ashkelon), the creation of the world (Susiya, Bet Alpha), sabbatical years (Susiya), or the Shevat, (7) and Adar. Abraham, Isaac, and...

Bet Alpha

79 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Susiya ...a large degree of diversity—two are broadhouse-type buildings (Eshtemoa and Susiya) and two are basilica-type structures (Anim and Maʿon). Interestingly, while...

Susiya

78 35.102467,31.406065,0 Rehov ...to the markedly liberal. At the former end of the spectrum stands the Rehov building, with its geometric mosaics. However, the mosaic floor in the prayer...

Rehov

72 35.49807,32.45663,0 Hammat Tiberias ...shouldered the major financial burden of their synagogues, as was the case at Hammat Tiberias.18 The local community was responsible for the synagogue’s maintenance...

Hammat Tiberias

80 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Caesarea ...this practice, the other supporting it: Rabbi Levi bar Hiyta came to Caesarea. He heard voices reciting the Shema in Greek [and] wished to stop them. Rabbi...

Caesarea

71 34.8912663,32.4987775,0 Tarbanat ...their synagogue functionaries, and in one instance the synagogue community of Tarbanat (in the Jezreel Valley) dismissed one Rabbi Simeon who was unwilling to comply...

Tarbanat

80 Hammat Tiberias ...geographical and chronological propinquity, Capernaum is worlds apart from Hammat Tiberias, as Rehov is from Bet Alpha and as Jericho is from Naʿaran. The cluster of five...

Hammat Tiberias

77 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Jericho ...Sepphoris, and Naʿaran) or biblical figures and scenes. Moreover, שלום( the Jericho synagogue inscription contains a biblical phrase Ps. 125.5) and the Merot...

Jericho

78 35.443876,31.8700465,0 Caesarea ...liturgical components, as is vividly borne out by an account regarding a Caesarean synagogue whose members decided to 20 Ibid., 238, 386; see also above, n...

Caesarea

75 34.8912663,32.4987775,0 Bostra ...was made of Rabbi Simeon ben Laqish in the mid-third century when visiting Bostra in Transjordan (y. Shev. 6.1, 36d; Deut. Rab., Vaʾethanan, ed. Lieberman...

Bostra

77 36.483333,32.516667,0 Maʿon ...synagogues discovered in the twentieth century—Eshtemoa, Susiya, Maʿon, and Anim—can be characterized as a distinct architectural group on the basis...

Maʿon

67 35.132746,31.409891,0 Maʿon ...buildings (Eshtemoa and Susiya) and two are basilica-type structures (Anim and Maʿon). Interestingly, while this eastward orientation was scrupulously followed in...

Maʿon

81 35.132746,31.409891,0 En Gedi ...found at only four other sites throughout Palestine—Horvat Rimmon, En Gedi, Hammat Tiberias, and possibly a fragment of one at Merot.6 Fig. 8...

En Gedi

69 35.38899,31.46017,0 Merot ...Jericho synagogue inscription contains a biblical phrase Ps. 125.5) and the Merot synagogue inscription quotes—על ישראל a complete verse (Deut. 28.6)...

Merot

78 Gaza ...of the country and include the Aqedah (Bet Alpha, Sepphoris; Fig. 10), David (Gaza and probably Merot; Fig. 11), Daniel (Susiya, Naʿaran, and perhaps En Semsem in...

Gaza

80 34.46203,31.503959,0 Naʿaran ...apart from Hammat Tiberias, as Rehov is from Bet Alpha and as Jericho is from Naʿaran. The cluster of five synagogue buildings that functioned simultaneously in...

Naʿaran

80 35.423662,31.8998115,0 Hammat Tiberias ...Fig. 6: Eight Greek dedicatory inscriptions on the mosaic floor of the Hammat Tiberias synagogue. Moshe Dothan, Hammath Tiberias (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration...

Hammat Tiberias

73 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Hammat Tiberias ...Zodiac motif and figure of Helios on the mosaic floor of the fourth-century Hammat Tiberias synagogue. Moshe Dothan, Hammath Tiberias (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration...

Hammat Tiberias

78 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Hammat Tiberias ...accompany the representations of the zodiac signs and seasons (e.g., Hammat Tiberias, Bet Alpha, Sepphoris, and Naʿaran) or biblical figures and scenes. Moreover...

Hammat Tiberias

71 35.54409845170467,32.77374824289424,0 Rehov ...chronological propinquity, Capernaum is worlds apart from Hammat Tiberias, as Rehov is from Bet Alpha and as Jericho is from Naʿaran. The cluster of five synagogue...

Rehov

80 35.49807,32.45663,0 Rehov ...to the entire congregation. The monumental inscription at the entrance to the Rehov synagogue’s main hall reflects this community’s halakhic orientation,21 while...

Rehov

80 35.49807,32.45663,0 Jericho ...communal dimension. Note, for example, the following inscription from Jericho: May they be remembered for good. May their memory be for good, the entire holy...

Jericho

72 35.443876,31.8700465,0 Horvat Ammudim ...date. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, other ‘Galilean’-type synagogues (Horvat Ammudim, Gush Halav, and Chorazim) were similarly dated to the late third or early...

Horvat Ammudim

74 Maʿoz Hayyim ...city wall, Bet Shean B near the southwestern city gate, Bet Alpha to the west, Maʿoz Hayyim to the east, and Rehov to the south. The artistic representations in these...

Maʿoz Hayyim

81 35.550641666,32.493038888,0 Anim ...buildings (Eshtemoa and Susiya) and two are basilica-type structures (Anim and Maʿon). Interestingly, while this eastward orientation was scrupulously...

Anim

72 35.063237,31.352394,0 Eshtemoa ...second or early third centuries; the transitional, broadhouse, type (e.g., Eshtemoa and Khirbet Shema‘) to the late third and fourth centuries; and the later...

Eshtemoa

77 35.06611,31.39671,0 Eshtemoa ...likewise noteworthy. Priests are mentioned in dedicatory inscriptions at both Eshtemoa and Susiya; while these numbers are not large, they become more significant in...

Eshtemoa

80 35.06611,31.39671,0 Anim ...synagogues discovered in the twentieth century—Eshtemoa, Susiya, Maʿon, and Anim—can be characterized as a distinct architectural group on the basis of their...

Anim

78 35.063237,31.352394,0 Sepphoris ...its excavators assume that it was probably oriented to the east. Moreover, the Sepphoris and Bet Shean synagogues, the latter located just north of the Byzantine city...

Sepphoris

81 35.279123,32.753079,0 Sepphoris ...present a very different cultural panorama. Flanked by the two urban centres, Sepphoris on the west and Tiberias on the east, the region’s more navigable terrain...

Sepphoris

80 35.279123,32.753079,0 Khirbet Wadi Hamam ...of Jewish symbols (Tiberias and Sepphoris), biblical scenes (Sepphoris, Khirbet Wadi Hamam, and Huqoq), or what might be animal representations of the tribes of Israel...

Khirbet Wadi Hamam

Bet Shean

79 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...Marianos and his son Hanina, laid the mosaic floors in both the Bet Alpha and Bet Shean A synagogues, the style and content at each site are strikingly different. This...

Bet Shean

80 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Shean ...two, as noted above, laid the mosaic floors of the synagogues at Bet Alpha and Bet Shean, while the third “made the lintel” in the synagogues at Alma and Barʿam in the...

Bet Shean

81 35.49632,32.49728,0 Bet Alpha ...with their main entrances located at the opposite end of the hall (e.g., Bet Alpha); some were very ornate (e.g., Hammat Tiberias), while others were far more...

Bet Alpha

75 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Bet Alpha ...A, just north of the city wall, Bet Shean B near the southwestern city gate, Bet Alpha to the west, Maʿoz Hayyim to the east, and Rehov to the south. The artistic...

Bet Alpha

79 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Bet Alpha ...to the late third and fourth centuries; and the later, basilical, type (e.g., Bet Alpha) to the fifth and sixth centuries (Fig. 1). However, a plethora of...

Bet Alpha

80 35.430277777,32.516111111,0 Susiya ...Priests are mentioned in dedicatory inscriptions at both Eshtemoa and Susiya; while these numbers are not large, they become more significant in light of...

Susiya

72 35.102467,31.406065,0 Susiya ...Alpha, Sepphoris; Fig. 10), David (Gaza and probably Merot; Fig. 11), Daniel (Susiya, Naʿaran, and perhaps En Semsem in the Golan), the crossing of the Red Sea...

Susiya

80 35.102467,31.406065,0 Barʿam ...and Bet Shean, while the third “made the lintel” in the synagogues at Alma and Barʿam in the Upper Galilee.12 Inscriptions mentioning the date of a building’s...

Barʿam

81 35.414807,33.045138,0 Nabratein ...2). Nahman Avigad’s decipherment of the previously enigmatic Nevoraya (or Nabratein) synagogue inscriptions indicates clearly that the building was constructed in...

Nabratein

76 35.516959,33.013309,0 Bet Alpha ...Synagogues in Eretz-Israel (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1987), nos. 4 and 5 (Bet Alpha and Bet Shean) (Hebrew); Joseph Naveh, ‘Ancient Synagogue Inscriptions’, in...

Bet Alpha

81 35.430277777,32.516111111,0