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From the Magdala Stone to the Syriac Bema
Mutual Influences between the Liturgical Space in the Early Synagogue and Church
Series: - Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, Volume: 218
This book sheds light on the reciprocal relations between liturgical performance and the physical spaces in which they took place in synagogues and churches in antiquity. The kernel of the manuscript revolves around a decorated stone that was found during the excavations of a synagogue dated to the first century CE at Magdala on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The book displays how this important archaeological discovery radically transforms our understanding of the changes in the shape of the liturgical space and the liturgical furniture in the places of assembly of the two sister faiths, Judaism and Christianity.
Rina Talgam is professor of art history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has published widely on the art of the Middle East in Late Antiquity. Her books include: The Stylistic Origins of Umayyad Sculpture and Architectural Decoration (2004) and Mosaics of Faith: Floors of Pagan, Jews, Christians, Samaritans and Muslims in the Holy Land (2014).
Dina Avshalom Gorni worked as Senior Field and Research Archaeologist in the Israel Antiquities Authority, from 1991 to 2016. She served as the District Archaeologist of the Eastern Galilee, Golan Heights and Valleys. She co-directed the Magdala synagogue excavations.
Arfan Najar works as a Senior Field Archaeologist in the Israel Antiquities Authority. He was a field supervisor in the excavations at Nysa-Scythopolis (Bet She’an), Tiberias and Megiddo (Kefar ʿOthnay). He co-directed the Magdala synagogue excavations.
Dina Avshalom Gorni worked as Senior Field and Research Archaeologist in the Israel Antiquities Authority, from 1991 to 2016. She served as the District Archaeologist of the Eastern Galilee, Golan Heights and Valleys. She co-directed the Magdala synagogue excavations.
Arfan Najar works as a Senior Field Archaeologist in the Israel Antiquities Authority. He was a field supervisor in the excavations at Nysa-Scythopolis (Bet She’an), Tiberias and Megiddo (Kefar ʿOthnay). He co-directed the Magdala synagogue excavations.
Acknowledgments
List of Figures
Introduction
1 Magdala: the Historical Background and Archaeological Context
with Dina Avshalom-Gorni
2 The Structure of the Magdala Synagogue – Architecture and Stratigraphy
with Dina Avshalom-Gorni and Arfan Najar
3 The Magdala Synagogue in Reference to Other Synagogues of the Second Temple Period in Iudaea
Functional, Archaeological, Chronological, and Architectural Aspects
4 The Magdala Stone: Description, Iconography, and Reception
5 The Practical Function of the Decorated Stone at Magdala
6 Change or Continuity? The Liturgical Space in Synagogues from the First Century CE to Late Antiquity
7 From the Magdala Stone to the Syrian Church
The Reciprocal Relationship between the Liturgical Spaces of the Ancient Synagogue and the Ancient Church
Summary
Appendix 1: Pottery and Stone Vessels
Dina Avshalom-Gorni
Appendix 2: The Coins
Danny Syon
Appendix 3: Wall Paintings
Silvia Rozenberg and Jacques Neguer
Appendix 4: Mosaic
Rina Talgam
Appendix 5: Petrographic Analysis of the Magdala Stone
Vardit Shotten-Hallel, Eytan Sass, and Lydia Perelis Grossowicz
Bibliography
Index
This book will be relevant to students and scholars interested in the history and archaeology of the ancient synagogue, and to those that explore the intricate exchanges between Jews and Christians in antiquity