Ancient Synagogues: Architecture, Mosaics, and Functions

Midrashic and New Testament sources testify to the existence of synagogues as early as the Hellenistic period and during the time of the Herodian Temple, when Jesus and his disciples preached in them. Even in Jerusalem, near the temple itself, there were synagogues. From its inception the synagogue, (juvaycoyt] in Greek, was not only a place for prayer and reading the Torah, but also a proper Beth Knesset, a "house of assembly." Most of the communal business of the congregation took place in this house, including election of community officials, the evaluation of taxes, legal proceedings, and education. Many of the synagogues had a school for younger children, a ritual bath, a bakery, an infirmary, a hostel, and other amenities for the citizens and guests of the community.

The "house of assembly," like most large assembly halls during the Late Antique period, was constructed like a basilica, with a high nave and side aisles built somewhat lower to enable windows to admit light, The size and wealth of the community determined the size of its synagogue. Alexandria, for instance, had a very large diplostoon with many aisles. The largest excavated synagogue, that at Sardis (no. 359), was probably originally a secular Roman basilica acquired by the Jewish community and remodeled for its own use. Other civic basilicas may have been converted into synagogues in this period, though most of the synagogues now known were built specifically for that purpose. Smaller buildings could have been adapted from private houses.

Of about 120 known synagogues of the first to seventh century in Europe and the East, about 100 have been excavated in the Holy Land. The extant basilical synagogues are either square or rectangular; most have only two aisles, one on either side of the nave, separated from it by arcades, and a few have more than two aisles (e.g., Hamat Tiberias, no. 342; Sardis; and Gaza). Most Galilean synagogues have transverse colonnades opposite their entrance, as in Capernaum and elsewhere. Among the rectangular buildings a distinct group is formed by the "broad- house," with its focal point in the long wall, as in Dura Europos (no. 358) and some Judean synagogues of which Khirbet Sham'a has the double arcades of a basilica, while the rest'are single halls.

Most existing synagogues have the wall facing Jerusalem specially indicated either by a niche (e.g., Dura Europos), a rounded apse (e.g., Beth Alpha, fig. 45), a square apse (e.g., Hamat Tiberias), or a raised bema (e.g., Khirbet Sham'a). This tradition derives from the Book of Daniel (6:10-11), which states that the prophet used to pray three times a day with his window open toward Jerusalem. The niches and apses were probably intended to contain the Torah scrolls, in either movable or fixed arks. Other synagogues, mainly of the Galilean type, have their decorated facades with three portals facing Jerusalem (e.g., Capernaum). One assumes that when reading the Torah and praying in Galilean synagogues the congregation faced the entrance, and that the Torah scrolls were kept in a movable ark somewhere in the hall or in the adjacent rooms that have sometimes survived.

In some synagogues the wall directed toward Jerusalem was so designated in a later period. In Beth She'arim, Hamat Tiberias, and Ostia, for instance, parts of the entrances facing Jerusalem were rebuilt to accommodate a Torah ark. In Sardis aediculae were added in the east entrance at a later date (no. 359).

There is no architectural or literary evidence that suggests special women's quarters existed in synagogues in this period, but the many details of the origin and development of the synagogue are still not known. Some scholars have compared them with local public buildings, such as secular basilicas, temples of Roman, Hellenistic, Syriac, or even Nabataean origin, or with Christian churches.

The decoration of the synagogues differed: carved stone capitals, lintels, and friezes are found in most Galilean as well as European synagogues; floor mosaics were common from the fourth to the sixth century; but wall painting is known only from the Dura synagogue of the mid-third century and from fragments at Sardis and Stobi. The Jerusalem Talmud ('Avodah Zarah, 42b) states that during the life of Rabbi Yohanan (third century) people in his community started to paint the walls of the synagogue and he did not hinder them, while during the life of Rabbi Abun (fourth century) they started to decorate the floors with mosaics and he did not prevent them. These dates accord with the wall paintings of Dura and with the earliest floor mosaics, in Galilee.

The plan of the mosaic decoration is common to most Galilean synagogues. It divides the floor into three areas of different dimensions. That nearest to the Torah ark is decorated with symbols of national redemption, such as the temple facade or a Torah ark flanked by menorot, mahtah, shofar, lulav, and ethrog. The central area is usually decorated with a circle containing the twelve signs of the zodiac, inscribed in Hebrew, and a victorious sun god in his chariot in the center. The third area sometimes contains a biblical representation, such as the Sacrifice of Isaac (Beth Alpha, fig. 45), Daniel in the lions' den (Na'aran), and Noah's Ark (Gerasa, fig. 44). Other floor mosaics are decorated with undulating, inhabited foliage scrolls (e.g., Nirim, Gaza, Beth Shean), geometrical carpet panels, a lion and an ox facing each other (Hamat Tiberias, no. 342), two rams (Sussia), or David the musician (Gaza, fig. 48). The style of these mosaics is directly related to the Roman and Byzantine mosaics of the period, though some are very crude and primitive.

bibliography: Sukenik, 1934; Kitzinger, 1965; Avi-Yonah, 1971; Sailer, 1972; Gutmann, 1975; Foerster, 1977.