An international team of Leiden students and scientists, among others, has uncovered a unique combination of elements of synagogues from the Byzantine period. This happened during work at the Horvat Kur excavation site in Galilee (Israel).
Leiden archaeologist Prof. Dr. Jürgen Zangenberg and his fellow researchers Dr. Stefan Münger (Bern), Dr. Raimo Hakola (Helsinki) and Prof. Dr. Byron McCane (Wofford) are very pleased with their discovery. “The most spectacular find is a basalt stone in the shape of a low table, decorated on one side with figurative elements and with geometric patterns on the other three sides.”
It resembles one discovered a few years ago near Migdal, but it was made of different material. That stone was in a wall from the sixth century AD, but it is believed to date from an earlier phase of the synagogue building. Scientists are divided over the function of the "stone table" from Migdal:it may have served as a reading table or lectern. The stone from Horvat Kur can help answer that question, although it can also lead to completely new directions for research.
Stone chair
Inside the synagogue, the archaeologists found a stone seat with two steps leading up to it. He stood on top of the bench along the south wall.
“During meetings, the leader of the faith community sat on it. It is the first time that we find such a seat in its original location in Israel,” explains Zangenberg.
The researchers also uncovered the remains of a podium ('bemah') in the center of the south wall. This is where the Torah shrine was placed at the time. Several fragments of the shrine emerged, including a classical-style threshold, a finely decorated console, the remains of a lion relief and a rosette.
All these finds show what an important significance the podium in the synagogue had, says Zangenberg. “They help to define the significance of the synagogue as a center of social and religious life.”
Synagogue life
In a 'cistern' - an underground water storage facility - near the synagogue, the researchers found a large collection of household pottery from the Roman and Early Byzantine periods that was still intact. Much of it had never been found complete before.
Officials of the Israel Antiquities Authority emphasize that these discoveries provide a better picture of synagogue life in the Galilee in Byzantine times. They will certainly stimulate research into synagogues. The excavations are part of the Kinnet Regional Project. Sponsors are the universities of Leiden, Bern and Helsinki and Wofford College.