Annotation The synagogue was one of the most central and revolutionary institutions of ancient Judaism leaving an indelible mark on Christianity and Islam as well. This commanding book provides an in-depth and comprehensive history of the synagogue from the Hellenistic period to the end of late antiquity. Drawing exhaustively on archeological evidence and on such literary sources as rabbinic material, the New Testament, Jewish writings of the Second Temple period, and Christian and pagan works, Lee Levine traces the development of the synagogue from what was essentially a communal institution to one which came to embody a distinctively religious profile. Exploring its history in the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods in both Palestine and the Diaspora, he describes the synagogue's basic features: its physical remains; its role in the community; its leadership; the roles of rabbis, Patriarchs, women, and priests in its operation; its liturgy; and its art. What emerges is a fascinating mosaic of a dynamic institution that succeeded in integrating patterns of social and religious behavior from the contemporary non-Jewish society while maintaining a distinctively Jewish character.

This volume gathers for the first time all of the primary source material on the early synagogues up through the Second Century C. E. Each entry contains bibliographic citations and interpretative comments. An Introduction frames the current state of synagogue research, while extensive indices allow for easy location of specific allusions.

Explores the ways in which divergent ethnic, national and religious communities interacted with one another within the synagogue during the Greco-Roman period.

Beautiful illustrations and maps transport the reader into the remains of synagogues as far afield as North Africa, Italy, Asia Minor, Israel, and Syria. Sacred Realm complements an exhibition organized by the Yeshiva University Museum in New York. The exhibition brings together archaeological artifacts and manuscripts from museums in North America, Europe, and Israel, most of which have never before been displayed in the Unites States.

This collection of over twenty essays brings together scholars from three continents to discuss the early synagogue. It addresses the questions of: When and where did the synagogue originate? What was its early distribution? What was its role in Judaism? The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004112544).

Following the failure of the Bar-Kokhba revolt in the second century, the majority of the Jewish population of Palestine migrated northward away from Jerusalem to join the communities of Jews in Galilee and the Golan Heights. Although rabbinic sources indicate that from the second century onward the demographic center of Jewish Palestine was in Galilee, archaeological evidence of Jewish communities is found in the southern part of the country as well. In The Ancient Synagogues of Southern Palestine, 300-800 C.E., Steve Werlin considers ten synagogues uncovered in southern Palestine. Through an in-depth analysis of the art, architecture, epigraphy, and stratigraphy, the author demonstrates how monumental, religious structures provide critical insight into the lives of those who were strangers among Christians and Muslims in their ancestral homeland.

The origins of the synagogue remain shrouded in mystery and its development in its early centuries is only slightly better understood. This book brings together over twenty essays from Israeli, British, and American scholars to explore the development of the ancient synagogue. Combining original articles with the best of earlier studies - including nine articles here translated from the Hebrew for the first time - this collection presents the fullest critical picture of the early synagogue and the scholarly discussions concerning it. The book focuses on two central questions. First, what were the origins of the earliest synagogues, and where did they achieve the greatest growth in the early centuries? Second, what role did the early synagogue play within the Jewish community? The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004112544).

This book brings together leading experts in the field of ancient synagogue studies to discuss the current issues and emerging trends in the study of synagogues in ancient Palestine. Divided into four thematic units, the different contributions apply archaeological, textual, historical and art historical methodologies to questions related to ancient synagogues. Part One addresses issues related to the origins and early development of synagogues up to 200 CE. The contributions provide different explanations to the alleged lack of evidence for synagogues built in the second and third centuries CE and ask how much continuity or change there is between the late Second Temple and late Roman/early Byzantine synagogues. Part Two deals with architecture and dating of ancient synagogues. It gives an overview of all synagogues found so far, approaches the dating of Galilean synagogues in the light of the recently-exposed synagogue at Huqoq, and provides a stylistic re-evaluation of the Capernaum synagogue decoration. Part three examines leadership, power and daily life in late antique synagogue contexts, illustrating non-monumental inscriptions, amulets and dining in synagogue contexts as well as the role of individual benefactors. Section four contextualizes synagogue art. An overview of synagogue mosaics in late antique Palestine is complemented with reinterpretations of the mosaics two synagogues. The section also offers a discussion of the appearance of the menorah.