Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Eric M. Meyers on the earliest synagogues

ERIC M. MEYERS on the earliest synagogues:
Unearthing the First Shuls

Excavations from Israel over the past 50 years suggest that synagogues may be older than we initially thought.
This is not an area I know a lot about, but on his e-mail list Joseph Lauer comments, "With specific regard to the following article by Prof. Meyers [i.e., the one above - JRD], the dating of synagogue structures is still a matter of some controversy and it is hoped that further excavations, including at Huqoq by Prof. Jodi Magness and the IAA's David Amit beginning this summer, will shed more light on ancient synagogues."