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Wadi Qelt Synagogue

Coordinates: 31°50′40″N 35°24′51″E / 31.844316°N 35.414257°E / 31.844316; 35.414257
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Wadi Qelt Synagogue
Religion
AffiliationJudaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
StatusRuins
Location
LocationTulul Abu al-'Alayiq in Wadi Qelt, site of the Hasmonean royal winter palaces, outside Jericho, West Bank
CountryState of Palestine
Wadi Qelt Synagogue is located in the West Bank
Wadi Qelt Synagogue
Location of the former ancient synagogue in the West Bank
Geographic coordinates31°50′40″N 35°24′51″E / 31.844316°N 35.414257°E / 31.844316; 35.414257
Architecture
Date establishedHasmonean-period
Wadi Qelt Synagogue
Site notes
ArchaeologistsEhud Netzer
ConditionRuin; entire site under constant degradation since excavation

The Wadi Qelt Synagogue is claimed to be a former ancient Jewish synagogue and archeological site, located in Wadi Qelt, outside Jericho, in the West Bank, in the State of Palestine. The site is part of the royal winter palace complex built by the Hasmoneans in the warm desert oasis of Jericho, west of the town.

According to Ehud Netzer, the excavator and archaeologist of the ruins,[1] the former building was identified as a Hasmonean-period synagogue; however, the claim of the ruins being a synagogue have been disputed.[2][3] The ruins date from between 70 and 50 BCE, and if the former building did serve as a synagogue, it would be one of the oldest synagogues known.[4][1][5]

History

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The synagogue was a modest building of stone and sun-baked brick. It included a ritual bath and a small courtyard surrounded by seven or eight rooms with a rectangular main hall measuring 16 by 11 m (53 by 37 ft). The hall was bordered by a colonnade, the platform of which was nearly two feet above the floor of the nave. This provided seating for nearly 70 people. In the northeastern corner, Netzer found a niche that may have served as a Torah Ark. A lower compartment, mostly intact, is thought to have possibly functioned as a genizah or storage compartment where old or unused scrolls were stored. Adjacent to the western side of the main hall was a triclinium, or dining hall, where public meals could be held, and a small, triangular space that may have been used as a kitchen. The triclinium was added some years after the main hall was built. Diners reclined, Roman style, on benches against three walls of the chamber while eating. The floors and walls were covered with white plaster.[1]

Controversy

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Despite the excavator's identification of a building among the Hasmonean palatial complex near Wadi Qelt as a synagogue,[5] the matter is far from conclusive. In fact, few scholars seriously consider this suggestion in discussions of Second Temple period synagogues, though even fewer have openly challenged the identification in print.[2][3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Harrington, Spencer P. M. (July 1998). "Israel's Oldest Synagogue". Archaeology. 51 (4).
  2. ^ a b Stacey, David. "Was There a Synagogue in Hasmonean Jericho?". bibleinterp.arizona.edu.
  3. ^ a b Japp, Sarah; Schwarzer, Holger (2002). "Synagoge, Banketthaus oder Wohngebäude?" [Synagogue, banquet house, or residential building?]. Antike Welt (in German) (3). Mainz: Philipp von Zabern: 277–88. Retrieved January 16, 2022 – via academia.edu.
  4. ^ "Oldest Synagogue Found in Israel". Associated Press. March 29, 1998. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Netzer, Ehud (1999). "A Synagogue from the Hasmonean Period Recently Exposed in the Western Plain of Jericho". Israel Exploration Journal (49): 203–21.
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