Jericho

A recent photograph of the synagogue-remains found near Jericho (Source: Ha'Aretz [Hebrew edition]; thanks to Menachem Brody for this image).

Workers uncover a mikveh or ritual bath outside the synagogue-remains discovered near Jericho (Source: The Jerusalem Post).

Plan of the synagogue complex near Jericho (click image for more detail).

Plan of the synagogue with its three phases delineated (click image for more detail).

The three phases of the synagogue. Phase one: antechambers constructed; Phase two: meeting hall and ritual baths added; Phase three: triclinium and kitchen added (click image for more detail).

Section drawings of the synagogue. Upper figure: looking north; Lower figure: looking east (click image for more detail).

Oldest Synagogue Found in Israel

March 29, 1998

By The Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli archaeologists have found the world's oldest synagogue in the ruins of a 2,000-year-old palace outside the West Bank town of Jericho.

The synagogue, which dates from 50–70 B.C., was uncovered by archaeologists in the ruins of a Maccabean winter palace, Ehud Netzer, a professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, said Sunday.

Netzer said worshipers would have sat on a bench running along pillars in the synagogue's basilica-shaped hall. The Torah, the Jewish holy book, was most likely read in the middle of the room.

In an adjoining room, archaeologists found a U-shaped bench that Netzer said was likely used for ceremonial meals.

The synagogue was not lavish but its floors may have been carpeted, he said.

Netzer said the synagogue was important not only because of its age and direct connection with the Maccabean monarchy, but gave scholars `"a clearer picture of the nature and form of synagogues that existed in the land of Israel prior to the destruction of the Temple" in A.D. 70.

The palace where the synagogue stands is adjacent to Wadi Kelt, then a Jewish town near Jericho that was a winter resort for the wealthy and year-round home to farmers. Today it is in the part of the West Bank that remains under full Israeli control.

The synagogue and the palace were destroyed in an earthquake in 31 B.C. and King Herod later built another palace over the ruins. Until the discovery of the Wadi Kelt synagogue in the last couple of months, the oldest known synagogue was in Gamla, in the Golan Heights. The Gamla synagogue was built about 50 years later than the Wadi Kelt synagogue, Netzer said.

The Maccabees, or Hasmoneans, headed a successful revolt against the Greco-Syrians in the second century B.C., today marked by the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, and spearheaded a restoration of Jewish political and religious life.