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Second Temple
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     This page answers some Frequently Asked Questions about Second Temple synagogues. Where possible, I have added hyperlinks to pages containing the relevant evidence for the topic at hand.

     If you have a question you would like to see addressed on this page, either post the question on the discussion board or add it as a comment in the guestbook. You may also e-mail the question to me at dbinder@pohick.org.  

Table of Contents

Questions of Methodology and Terminology

What is the Second Temple Period?

    The Second Temple period extends from Zerubbabel's reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple in the late sixth century Before the Common Era (abbreviated BCE and equivalent to BC; Ezra 3:1ff) to the Temple's final destruction by Titus in year 70 of the Common Era (abbreviated CE and equivalent to AD). While many renovations of the Temple took place during this time--including an almost complete reconstruction in the first century BCE by Herod the Great--the entire era is nevertheless known as the Second Temple period.

How do Archaeologists Identify Second Temple Synagogues?

    First of all, archaeologists date excavated structures (and their phases) using modern stratigraphic methods. These mainly depend on pottery and coin evidence found in the various layers of the excavation. After establishing a pre-70 date for a structure (or one of its phases), excavators adhere to a number of criteria in determining whether or not the building is a synagogue. These include:

    In practice, archaeologists use a combination of these criteria to make the case that a certain structure is indeed a synagogue. To take a hypothetical example, the Jewish historian Josephus mentions that a synagogue existed in Tiberias (Galilee) during the Jewish War (Vita 276-303). Although this structure has never been found, if in the future excavators were to uncover in Tiberias a large public building with benches along the walls, and if this building were to date to the first century CE and contain an inscription mentioning a certain archôn named Jesus, Josephus' allusion to the synagogue and its archôn would aid archaeologists in securing the identification of the structure.

    The process of identification is thus the convergence of the literary, epigraphic and architectural lines of evidence.

What are our Sources of Information about Second Temple Synagogues?

    In order to guard against anachronism (attributing later practices and customs to an earlier era), recent researchers have been careful to study only literary, epigraphic and architectural sources contemporaneous with the Second Temple period. This excludes the bulk of the Rabbinic writings (e.g., the Mishnah, the Tosefta, the Talmuds), which were compiled from one-and-a-half to five centuries later. It also excludes the majority of excavated synagogue remains, which date from the third to sixth centuries CE.

    Fortunately, even with this conservative approach there remains a sizable body of data. This includes:

    From this body of evidence we are able to form a reasonably clear picture of the early synagogues' various designs, functions and functionaries. Future discoveries will hopefully fill-out the picture even more.

What did the Ancients call their Synagogues?

    The two most common terms used in our sources are the Greek words synagôgê (pronounced: syn-a-go-GAY) and proseuchê (pronounced: pro-seu-KAY).

    The first of these is the cognate to our English word synagogue. It simply means "place of the congregation." The term appears to have been used most often in Palestine, perhaps as a translation of the Aramaic bet kenisah ("house of the gathering") or even the Hebrew bet mo'ed ("house of the meeting"), which shows up in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Christians encounter the underlying Greek word in their reading of Jesus' various visits to synagogues.

    The second word, proseuchê, means "place of prayer." It is most often attested outside of Palestine in the diaspora. The term may derive from Jews gathering on sacred cultic days (the Sabbath, Yom Kippur, etc.) in order to offer their prayers while sacrifices were being made in the Temple. It may also have resonances with passages in Isaiah (56:7, 60:7) which refer to the Temple as a "house of prayer." Christians encounter the underlying Greek word in Acts 16:13ff, the story of Paul's visit to a synagogue outside the gates of Phillippi.

    While these two terms are most often attested, other words turn up in the sources. The Greek hieron ("temple" or "sacred place") shows up frequently in the writings of Josephus and in other documents either written by Gentiles or within a Gentile milieu. The term hieros peribolos ("sacred precincts") appears both in Philo's writings and in an inscription from Egypt. These words obviously imply the sacred nature of the early synagogues.

    Other terms from our period include (all in Greek): Synagogion ("place of dining"), Didaskaleion ("school"), amphitheatron ("place for spectators all around"), Sabbateion ("place of the Sabbath"), Semneion ("sacred place"), oikos/oikêma ("building"), and topos ("place").

Synagogue Origins

What are the Origins of the Synagogues?

    The question of synagogue origins is still a matter of debate among researchers. Nevertheless, one view that is gaining momentum holds that, in one sense, "synagogues" have been in existence as long as Israel has been a people. That is to say, if we understand the Greek term synagôgê in its earliest meaning, i.e., "congregation," then the "synagogue" on one level was the national and cultic assembly of Israel. Hence synagôgê is commonly used in the LXX (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) to represent the gathering of the tribes before the Tabernacle (e.g., Lev 8:3, Deut 5:22, LXX). The same word is later used to describe the assembly before the Temple (1 Chr 5:6, LXX).

    On a more local level, "synagogues" (plural) would have been the popular village or city assemblies, held first at the city gates and later in the agoras or civic squares. At some point, these regular public gatherings moved inside public buildings that the ancients referred to with various words, including synagôgê (see above). In Egypt this transition came in the third century BCE. By the first century CE, sources indicate that synagogue buildings existed in every city in the Jewish diaspora.

    In Palestine, synagogue buildings began to crop up by the first century BCE, though perhaps even a century earlier. Aside from the Qumran settlement, the earliest architectural evidence from Palestine is the synagogue at Gamla. Located in the Golan, this building was constructed in the second half of the first century BCE.  (Recently, a synagogue dating to 75-50 BCE was reportedly discovered outside of Jericho. See the announcement on the homepage.)

    Literary sources suggest that earlier synagogue buildings existed in Judea, and these may yet be discovered. Two devastating wars in Judea during the first and second centuries CE help explain the difficulty in finding remains of such buildings, since the local civic and religious centers would have been the first structures in every town to be demolished by the Romans.

    In this regard, we should point out that the Jewish philosopher Philo states that the Essenes had assembly halls called "synagogues" (synagôgai). The excavator of Qumran identified several rooms that functioned in this capacity. Since these were built during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE) and thus predate the Gamla synagogue, these halls actually represent the earliest examples of Palestinian synagogues--albeit sectarian ones.

What is the Earliest Evidence for Ancient Synagogues?

    The earliest evidence for synagogue buildings comes from Egypt in the third century BCE. It consists of two synagogue dedications and a reference in a papyrus letter from the village of Alexandrou-Nesos (Middle Egypt) that dates to 218 BCE.

    The earliest architectural evidence from the diaspora is the synagogue on the island of Delos in the Aegean Sea. This hall was either: (a) originally built as a synagogue in the second century BCE, or (b) first constructed as a pagan cultic hall, abandoned, and then transformed into synagogue in the first century BCE. Unfortunately, we are still unclear whether this was a Jewish or a Samaritan synagogue since two Samaritan synagogue inscriptions were discovered 90 m north of the building.

    On the earliest evidence from Palestine, see the preceding section.   

Architectural Remains

What Architectural Remains of Second Temple Synagogues have been Found?

    Six structures have been found that most archaeologists would agree are synagogues from the Second Temple period. In the diaspora, pre-70 synagogues have been discovered at Delos in the Aegean and at Ostia (earliest phase), the port city of Rome. In Palestine we have the synagogues at Gamla, Masada, Herodium and Capernaum (earliest phase). Also, in the Qumran complex, two rooms used for communal gatherings should properly be called synagogues (see above).

    Aside from the Qumran complex, the Gamla synagogue, which was built in the second half of the first century BCE, is the earliest of the Palestinian structures. The basalt synagogue at Capernaum (not to be confused with the later limestone synagogue built on top) dates to the first century CE. The synagogues at Masada and Herodium were both built out of pre-existing structures by Jewish rebels during the Jewish revolt of 66-73 CE.

    In the diaspora, the synagogue at Delos was used by Jews or Samaritans beginning in either the second or the first century BCE (see above). The synagogue at Ostia was founded during the reign of Claudius (41-54 CE), as its earliest phase was built from a type of wall-construction commonly used at Ostia during this time.

Have Other Structures been Suggested as Second Temple Synagogues?

    Five other structures have been proposed as Second Temple synagogues. These are located at Magdala, Chorazin, Shuafat, Kiryat Sefer and Jericho.

    V. Corbo, the excavator of the structure at Magdala (Galilee), has argued that the first phase of what later became a springhouse was a synagogue. His main argument was that seven tiers lined one side of the structure. Corbo interpreted these as rows of benches. A closer examination, however, reveals that the heights of the tiers in the Magdala structure, which range from 19 to 25 cm, are too low to have served as benches. In the synagogues at Masada, Herodium and Gamla, for example, the bench-heights are 35-40 cm. The "benches" are clearly stairs leading down into the structure. Thus archaeologist Ehud Netzer has argued convincingly that the building was a springhouse in both phases. 

    In 1926, J. Ory identified a synagogue 200 meters west of the already exposed third-century synagogue at Chorazin (Galilee). The building reportedly had five rows of benches along three walls and two rows of columns in the center. Unfortunately, a later survey in the 1970s was unable to locate these remains. More systematic surveys may yet rediscover Ory's lost site.

    In 1991, archaeologist Alexander Onn uncovered an agricultural settlement near modern Shuafat, an Arab suburb just north of Jerusalem. According to reports, the settlement was founded in the second century BCE and was inhabited until 31 BCE when a catastrophic earthquake inflicted considerable damage to the area. The complex measures about 50 meters square and contains the remains of several mikvaoth (ritual baths). In the early first century BCE, a subterranean room in this complex was renovated. Benches were erected around the walls of the room, which was divided in half by a low stone wall. A niche was cut into the wall that was oriented toward Jerusalem. On this basis, Onn identified the room as a synagogue. Unfortunately, this claim is difficult to evaluate since none of the existing publications on this site gives either the plan or the dimensions of this room.

    In November 1995, two brief news releases reported that Israeli excavator Yitzhak Magen had uncovered a synagogue next to the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Sefer near the town of Modi'in in the West Bank (twenty miles northwest of Jerusalem). The structure is reported to be eight meters square, with benches on three sides and four columns resting on top of a stone paved floor. Comparing the building to the synagogues found at Masada and Gamla, Magen has claimed that this synagogue dates to the Second Temple period. Again, the lack of published data on this find makes Magen's claim difficult to evaluate.

     On March 29, 1998, Israeli archaeologist Ehud Netzer announced the discovery of a synagogue inside a Hasmonean palace complex destroyed by an earthquake in 31 BCE. For more information about this recent find, see the announcement on the homepage of this site.

What were the Architectural Models for Second Temple Synagogues?

    There seems to have been several models. In the diaspora, the synagogues at Ostia and Delos bear a striking resemblance to pagan cultic halls. The Delos synagogue in particular compares favorably with the so-called House of the Poseidoniasts, a cultic hall built on the island by merchants and shipowners from Beruit. In addition to possessing a meeting hall, this consecrated structure contained a main sanctuary with four adjacent chapels housing the idols of various gods.

    The synagogues at Delos and Ostia, of course, did not have idols or altars like their gentile counterparts. Nevertheless, they appear to have functioned similarly, possessing meeting halls and--in the case of Ostia--a communal banquet hall, which was discovered in the building's earliest phase.

    While synagogue-remains have not yet been found in Egypt, various allusions in inscriptions to asylum rights and to such architectural features as sacred precincts, pylons (monumental gateways), and exedrae (usually temple annexes for philosophical debate) suggest that the synagogues in this country were modeled after local temples. If so, the absence of altars and idols would have distinguished them from their pagan counterparts.

    As for the early Palestinian synagogues, archaeologist James Strange has recently argued that these structures derive architecturally from the Court of Israel in the Jerusalem Temple: in both cases, columns intervene between the observer and the enclosed area, a situation not found in other types of Greco-Roman halls. Thus whereas priests sacrificed burnt offerings in the center of the Court of Israel, in the middle of the synagogues, readers and worship-leaders offered a corresponding "sacrifice of the lips."

Temple-Synagogue Relationships

What was the Relationship between the Temple and the Synagogues?

    The evidence strongly supports the view that the Temple and the synagogues together comprised a massive cultic system centered at Jerusalem. Thus the synagogues served as gathering places for prayer and the reading and expounding of scripture on days sacred to the cult, such as the Sabbath, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Such observances allowed Jewish communities around the world a measure of participation within Temple ritual.

    While the Temple alone served as the Jewish sacrificial center, our sources reveal that the synagogues functioned as local repositories for offerings that envoys conveyed annually to Jerusalem. The strength of the solidarity between the synagogues and the Temple can be measured not only by the abundance of these offerings, but by the fact that the local congregations protested vehemently to the authorities whenever the transport of these sums was interfered with.

    Conversely, our sources indicate that some of the imperial edicts permitting the synagogue congregations to practice their "sacred rites" and "native customs" came about as the result of envoys from the Jewish High Priest. This suggests that the head of the Jewish cult supported the religious practices of the synagogues, evidently seeing them in league with the central shrine.

    The unity of the two institutions is further seen in an inscription from Jerusalem which reveals that three generations of priests served as the synagogue rulers (archisynagôgoi) of a certain synagogue in that city. Other epigraphic and literary sources indicate that priests and Levites frequently provided leadership within the local synagogues.

    The sectarian synagogues serve as somewhat of an exception to the above picture. The Samaritan synagogues, for instance, did not see themselves in league with the Jewish Temple, but with their own cultic site on Mt. Gerizim. Thus in two synagogue inscriptions found on Delos, the Samaritans identify themselves as "the Israelites who make first-fruit offerings to the temple on Mt. Gerizim." 

    Also, while the Essenes considered the sacrifices of the Jerusalem Temple invalid,  the priestly leadership of this sect chose synagogues to function as interim worship centers while they waited for God to restore to their sect the Temple leadership. The issue was therefore not one of "synagogues vs. Temple," but of "Essene  synagogues and Temple vs. non-Essene synagogues and Temple."

Synagogue Leadership and Participation

Who were the Leaders of the Synagogues?

    The organizational structure varied somewhat from synagogue to synagogue. One common scheme had a "ruler of the synagogue," known variously as an archisynagôgos, archôn or prostates, at the head of the congregation. He would control the flow of religious services, serve as judge over community disputes, and represent the congregation outside the local community. He was frequently a patron of the synagogue.

    Surrounding the synagogue ruler was a group known as the "elders" (prebyteroi, gerontes) or "notables" (dynatoi), who served as an advisory panel and assisted in administration and teaching in the synagogues. In additional, one or more trained scribes--most frequently a Levite or priest--maintained the synagogue archives and assisted in the reading and teaching of scripture. Finally, a synagogue assistant (hyperêtes or neôkoros) would oversee the upkeep of  the physical plant and assist the synagogue ruler in various servile tasks during assemblies.

    There are a number of variations on this scheme. In some locales there were several synagogue rulers, rather than just one. In others, the offices of archisynagôgos and archôn became specialized, with the former being concerned with religious ritual and the latter with more temporal affairs. Priests and Levites frequently functioned among the various leadership roles, though synagogue positions were not restricted to the priestly or Levitical caste.

    While in later centuries women occasionally served in leadership positions in diaspora synagogues, the existence of female synagogue leaders during the Second Temple period is currently unattested.

How did Women Participate within the Synagogues?

    As mentioned above, evidence for female synagogue leaders in the Second Temple period is not yet forthcoming. Nevertheless, sources indicate that women joined the men in the weekly Sabbath assemblies. In some locales, they may have been separated from the men by a wall, which seems to have been the case in the Delos synagogue. More commonly, however, it appears that they commingled freely with the opposite sex.

    Epigraphic evidence records that women donated to the upkeep of a synagogue in Berenice (Cyrenaica) and purchased votive offerings for the Delos synagogue. In another inscription, a Gentile woman is mentioned as contributing to the Jews of Acmonia (Asia Minor) an entire synagogue. In an Egyptian dedication, a husband, wife and their children are listed as the donators of a synagogue exedra (annex). Still other inscriptions indicate that women participated within manumission (slave-release) ceremonies held in the Bosporus synagogues.

Were the so-called "God-fearers" Participants in the Synagogues?

   Literary evidence indicates that "God-fearers"--pious Gentiles who had not fully converted to Judaism--were frequently found among the congregations of synagogues, particularly those of the diaspora. Epigraphic evidence from the Bosporus reveals that Gentile slaves released in the synagogues there were sometimes required to attend the synagogue regularly and to maintain a pious disposition toward it as a condition of their release.

   Other inscriptions attest to Gentiles being benefactors of the synagogues. In one case, a Gentile woman donated an entire synagogue to the Jewish community of Acmonia.

Synagogue Functions

What Functions did the Synagogues Serve?

    Synagogues served a variety of functions, both civic and religious. Here we must remember that the dividing wall between state and religion, so characteristic of modern Western societies, did not exist in antiquity. Within the synagogues, religion and civic affairs were inextricably intertwined.

    Consequently, synagogues frequently served as venues for civil and criminal courts. Political assemblies met inside them, as did special interest groups like Jewish burial societies. Synagogues also functioned as museums for votive offerings and archives for decrees and legal documents, both of which were often inscribed on steles.

   In addition, synagogues served as treasuries for sacred funds that were either donated to Temple or to the synagogue itself. The Egyptian synagogues were places of asylum through at least the Hellenistic period, while the synagogues of the Bosporus Kingdom functioned as venues for manumission ceremonies, a role most often seen in pagan temples.

   And, of course, synagogues served as places of sacred assembly on the Sabbath and other days sacred to the cult. During these assemblies, prayers were offered and scripture was read and expounded upon.

    Some synagogues housed banquet halls to accommodate communal meals associated with certain Jewish festivals, such as the New Moon and Passover. Still others contained hostels for Jewish travelers or pilgrims. Most had nearby ritual baths or were located close to natural bodies of water so that customary purifications could be performed prior to entering the synagogues.

What was the General Outline of a Sabbath Service?

   During the Second Temple period, the Sabbath services began early Saturday morning. In Palestine, they lasted until around noon, when the service broke up and everyone went home for a mid-day meal. This may also have been the custom in the diaspora, though one of our sources, Philo, indicates that the services went into the afternoon.

   Our early sources give us only the barest outlines of a Sabbath service. Normally, portions of the Torah would be read, followed by a passage from the Prophets. In Palestine, the reading would typically have been in Hebrew, perhaps with an Aramaic translation. In the diaspora, the recitation would have been from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. While the reading was often done by one of the synagogue leaders, ordinary Jews could also be called upon to read.

   Following the recitations, either the reader or one of the other members of the synagogue would make an interpretive comment. Others in the congregation would then be free to offer their opinions, though the scribes, elders and other synagogue leaders probably led these exchanges.

   Communal prayer formed a part of the service, though it is unknown whether prayers were conducted at the beginning or the end of the service, or at both times. Practices probably varied from region to region.

To Cite this page:

Donald D. Binder, "Second Temple Synagogue FAQs."
<http://www.pohick.org/sts/faqs.html>