Archaeologists say they have discovered one of the world's earliest synagogues at the site of an ancient city.Reportedly, two inscriptions identifying the building as a "house of worship" and "synagogue" date to the first century C.E.A team of experts made the find during excavations at the archaeological site of Phanagoria, which is on the Taman Peninsula in southwestern Russia. The ancient settlement was founded by Greek settlers around the middle of the 6th century B.C. on the peninsula, which borders the Sea of Azov to the north and the Black Sea to the south.
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For additional background, see Ruth Schuster's article in Haaretz: Synagogue From Late Second Temple Period Found by Black Sea in Russia. Identity of the house of worship from about 2,000 years ago confirmed by menorah engravings and inscriptions calling it a ‘synagogue’, Phanagoria excavation director Vladimir Kuznetsov explains.
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