"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"--
The book highlights the organization of the sacred space in the ancient synagogue. Tracking the ritual and liturgical furnishings it demonstrates the common core shared by synagogues and churches and offers insights into their mutual influence.
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
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 Shean), Tiberias and Megiddo (Kefar Othnay). He co-directed the Magdala synagogue excavations.
