Nabratein synagogue

Nabratein synagogue
בית כנסת נבוריה
Shown within Israel
Location Israel Israel
Coordinates 32°59′31″N 35°31′00″E / 32.991892°N 35.516739°E / 32.991892; 35.516739
History
Material Stone
Founded 2nd century-6th century

The Nabratein synagogue (Hebrew: נבוריה‎‎) is an ancient synagogue and archaeological site in the upper Galilee, in a pine forest northeast of Safed.[1]

History

Lintel inscribed with menorah

Naburiya was a Jewish village in the Galilee during the First and Second Temple periods. Neburaya is believed to be identical with Nabratain, a location north of Safed where Eleazar of Modi'im and Jacob of Kfar Neburaya, a compiler of the Haggadah, are buried.[2] The excavated remains of the Naburiya synagogue indicate that it is one of the oldest in the Galilee. The original synagogue was enlarged during the third century and destroyed in the Galilee earthquake of 363.

The final, and much larger, synagogue building was constructed in the late 6th century reusing stones from the earlier building.[3] The year of its construction is known from the inscription over the main door, now displayed at the Israel Museum: “Built four hundred and ninety four years after the destruction of the Temple under the leadership of Hanina ben Lizar and Luliana bar Yuden.” The building stood until 640 CE. The façade was partially reconstructed by the Jewish National Fund and the Israel Antiquities Authority.[4]

The seven-branched Menorah surrounded by a wreath over the door of the Henry S. Frank Memorial Synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is copied from the Nabratein synagogue.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Eric M. Meyers and Carol Meyers, "Excavations at Ancient Nabratein: Synagogue and Environs," Meiron Excavation Project Reports - MEPR 6, Eisenbrauns, 2009.
  2. ↑ Jacob of Kefar Neburaya
  3. ↑ Second Preliminary Report on the 1981 Excavations at en-Nabratein, Israel, Eric M. Meyers, James F. Strange and Carol L. Meyers, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 246 (Spring, 1982), pp. 35-54
  4. ↑ Naburiya Synagogue
  5. ↑ Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world: toward a new Jewish archaeology, Steven Fine, Cambridge University Press, 2005, Chapter 1, Building an Ancient Synagogue on the Delaware, pp. 12-21
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