Archaeologists in Israel discover synagogue dating from time of Jesus
In a bid to construct a hotel and church for a Christian priest, archaeologists in Israel may have made a major discovery. As they dug, they came across the remains of a synagogue, one thousands of years old with potential implications for Judaism and Christianity.
In the time of Jesus, Magdala was a thriving fishing village.
It was home to Mary Magdalene — she was Mary of Magdala. And it was located in the small area along the sea of Galilee, where the bible said Jesus lived and ministered and performed most of his miracles.
Recently, archaeologists working in the area made an amazing discovery: an ancient synagogue, one of only seven ever found that date to the time of Jesus.
“This stone is really unique, we’ve never excavated anything like it,” said Dina Gorni, one of two archaeologists from the Israeli Antiquities Authority who excavated the site. “It took me 3 days to believe what I am seeing, that we are standing in a synagogue from the time that the Beit Hamikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem was working."
All this was a mere twenty inches beneath the topsoil. Incredibly, no other towns had been built over it in the centuries since. And no one had disturbed it. It was waiting, like Pompeii, to be discovered.
Father Juan Maria Solana, director of Jerusalem’s Pontifical Institute, said he's dreamed of building a church and hotel in Galilee to serve pilgrims since he moved to Jerusalem seven years ago.
“To be frank, I felt something about this place and this project, that it was impossible to explain,” he said.
After four years gathering donations Father Solana had enough money to buy the land. And the dig began.
The new testament does not specify that Jesus ministered in Magdala, but Father Solana said the discovery of this synagogue means what we thought we knew will have to be re-examined.
“From the Jewish point of view, the position is clear. It’s a first century synagogue, beautifully decorated, with pieces of art and an altar such has never been found in any other synagogue from that time,” Solana said. “Never, ever. From the Christian point of view, we cannot doubt that Jesus would have been there sometime. The first Christian communities used to gather in the synagogues. They were observant Jews. So it’s clear that the first generation of Christians used to gather there.”
And that, he said, could mean he and his workmen found the first Church on earth.
The two archaeologists working on the site, Arfan Najjar and Gorni, one Muslim and the other Jewish, give cautious support to this theory.
They point out that the synagogue was located on the outskirts of Magdala. And it was built for a congregation of around 120, not the thousands who lived there. In other words, for people who marked themselves off from the rest of Jewish Magdala.
Tramping around the site on a sunny winter’s afternoon, the Sea of Galilee shimmering a few feet away, Gorni is still in awe of what they’ve found, and its importance for both Christians and Jews.
“You can hear about or read about it, but to see it, it’s only here. The story about Jesus and Mary Magdalene, the synagogue, the altar stone, it’s so important to both religions. I think to the world,” she said. ”It was there for 2,000 years and it was waiting for us, for this generation, to see it, to come and touch it and to come and to pray here again.”
When this dig is finished, Father Solana intends to preserve the ruins in an open air museum. He said finding what may be the site of Jesus’ first ministry could be a real blessing for his church and hotel being built nearby.
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The Hittites were considered Bible fiction by higher criticism until, voilà, they were 'discovered.' All scholars agree that the New Testament was written before 300 CE. So, Nazareth was there, no doubt about it.
Also, archaeological findings in Nazareth date back to the early Roman period, though it is generally thought to have been a small settlement at the time.
This link disproves the notion that Nazareth didn't somehow exist during the time of Christ. Typical straw-man Paul.
- hope this synagogue will prove to bé a great blessing for your tourism project. Thank you
James F. Strange, an American archaeologist, notes: “Nazareth is not mentioned in ancient Jewish sources earlier than the third century AD. This likely reflects its lack of prominence both in Galilee and in Judaea.” Strange originally calculated the population of Nazareth at the time of Christ to be "roughly 1,600 to 2,000 people" but, in a subsequent publication, revised this figure down to “a maximum of about 480.” In 2009 Israeli archaeologist Yardenna Alexandre excavated archaeological remains in Nazareth that might date to the time of Jesus in the early Roman period. Alexandre told reporters, "The discovery is of the utmost importance since it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth."
Never mind that the Tabula Peutingeriana does not list Tzippori (Sepphoris) either, a well-laid out city nearby. As far as I can see, it mentions only two places in the province of Palaestina Secunda, namely Tiberias and Beth-Shean. (Alongside are Caesarea Philippi north of the province and Maximianopolis and Nablus to the south.)
The saying relayed in John’s Gospel, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” suggests that Nazareth was a small and insignificant place which we would not expect to leave many traces.
The place may have hosted only one farm although this would of course not mean that only a farmer, his wife and four children lived in Nazareth. jesusneverexisted does not mention a single archaeologist who questions Stephen Pfann’s estimate that two or three clans lived there in 35 homes spread over 2.5 hectares.
The point is that there were most likely some 200 Galilean villages and towns at the time of Jesus, only two of which make it onto the road map of the whole Roman empire in Byzantine times - for understandable reasons. There is no reason whatsoever to expect Nazareth to get a mention on the Tabula Peutingeriana. And in any case, surely not even René Salm claims that Nazareth did not exist in Byzantine times.
If the Beit Hamichdash was still orking as the article says Christianity was either not in existence or it was in its infant stage because the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.Many of the Gospels were believed to have been written after 70AD.
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