A second synagogue in Magdala

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE: 2nd-Temple-period synagogue found where Gospel’s Mary Magdalene was born. The building is the second synagogue from the time uncovered in Migdal, a prominent Jewish settlement that was also the main base of Flavius Josephus, historian and anti-Roman rebel commander (Rossella Tercatin, Jerusalem Post).

“The fact that we have found two synagogues shows that the Jews of the Second Temple period were looking for a place for religious, and perhaps also social, gatherings,” said Zinman Institute head Prof. Adi Erlich. “The stone bearing a relief of the Menorah from the other synagogue at Migdal, suggests that the local Jews saw Jerusalem as their religious center, and their local activities took place under this centrality.”

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the ancient city of Magdala (Migdal today), the other first-century synagogue excavated there, and the Magdala Stone found in the latter synagogue, see here and links, plus here.

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