Review of the Synagogues at Gush Halav and Khirbet Shemaʿ / בתי-הכנסת בגוש-חלב ובח'ירבת שמע — מבט חדש

• Published in: ארץ-ישראל: מחקרים בידיעת הארץ ועתיקותיה 1996-01, Vol.כה, p.450-455
• Main Authors: נצר, אהוד, Netzer, Ehud
• Format: Article
• Language: Hebrew
• Subjects: The Later Periods / התקופות המאוחרות
• ISSN: 0071-108X

A careful study of the results of the excavation of the synagogues at Gush Halav and Khirbet Shema' has lead the author to pose certain basic questions concerning the history of these two synagogues. In Gush Halav (E.M. Meyers, C.L. Meyers, and J.F. Strange, Excavations at the Ancient Synagogue of Gush Halav. Winona Lake, Indiana, 1990) the excavators divided the synagogue's history into four phases starting in the mid-3rd century CE and ending in the mid-6th century. It is now assumed that although the dating of the various phases on the basis of material finds is essentially correct, the synagogue under discussion was not built in Period I but in Period II, in the first half of the 4th century CE. This conclusion was reached after a thorough study of all the sections and the information supplied by the excavators. In Khirbet Shema' (E.M. Meyers, A.T. Kraabel, and J.F. Strange, Ancient Synagogue Excavations at Khirbet Shema', Upper Galilee, Israel 1970-1972. Durham, North Carolina, 1976) the excavators distinguished two phases in the history of the synagogue, in which the second building was in effect a restoration of the first. In the author's analysis there appear to be sufficient data to determine that the history of this synagogue consists of only a single period (the excavator's second phase, dated to the first half of the 4th century CE) with sub-stages associated with secondary alterations, such as the addition of a bema. Revised restorations of both synagogues proposed by the author are presented.