Beth Alpha (; ''Bet Alpha'', ''Bet Alfa'') is an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

former

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located at the foot of the northern slopes of the Gilboa mountains near

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...

, in the Northern District of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

.Avigad, "Beth Alpha", ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', 190. The synagogue was completed in the sixth-century CE and is now part of Bet Alfa Synagogue National Park and managed by the

Israel Nature and Parks Authority The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (, ; ) is an Israeli government organization that manages nature reserves and national parks in Israel, the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank. The organization was founded in April 1998, merging two o ...

Excavations

The Beth Alpha synagogue was uncovered in 1928 by members of the nearby

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Beit Alfa Beit Alfa (; also Beit Alpha, Bet Alpha and Bet Alfa) is a kibbutz in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel, founded in 1922 by immigrants from Poland. Located at the base of the Gilboa (ridge), Gilboa ridge, it falls under ...

, who stumbled upon the synagogue's extensive mosaic floors during irrigation construction. Excavations began in 1929 under the auspices of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

and were led by Israeli archaeologist,

Eleazar Sukenik Eleazar Lipa Sukenik (; 12 August 1889 – 28 February 1953) was an Israeli archaeologist and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is best known for helping establish the Department of Archaeology at the Hebrew University and being ...

. A secondary round of excavations, sponsored by the

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, ; , before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of Antiquities. The IAA regulates excavation and conservatio ...

in 1962, further explored the residential structures surrounding the synagogue. In addition, a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of 36

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

coins were found in a shallow depression in the floor

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

Architecture

Architectural remains from the Beth Alpha synagogue indicate that the synagogue once stood as two-story basilical building and contained a courtyard, vestibule, and prayer hall. The first floor of the prayer hall consisted of a central

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

measuring wide, the apse, which served as the resting place for the Torah Ark, the bimah, the raised platform upon which the Torah would have been read, and benches. The Torah Ark within the

was aligned southwest, in the direction of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. The function of the second floor remains a topic of scholarly disagreement.

proposes that this floor served a different purpose from the first, suggesting that it must have served as a women's gallery ( Ezrat Nashim). In contrast, Shmuel Safrai argues that there is no physical or textual evidence to support the idea that the second floor functioned as a women's gallery in synagogues of that period or to gender segregation in synagogues at all. Safrai contends that Soknik's argument is based on an unwarranted inference, drawing parallels from the

Second Temple The Second Temple () was the Temple in Jerusalem that replaced Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed during the Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC), Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. It was constructed around 516 BCE and later enhanced by Herod ...

to other synagogues without sufficient proof.

Dedicatory inscriptions

The northern entryway features two dedicatory inscriptions in

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

and Greek. Although partially destroyed, the Aramaic inscription indicates that the synagogue was built during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinus, probably

Justin I Justin I (; ; 450 – 1 August 527), also called Justin the Thracian (; ), was Roman emperor from 518 to 527. Born to a peasant family, he rose through the ranks of the army to become commander of the imperial guard and when Emperor Anastasi ...

(518–527 CE), and was funded by communal donations.Avigad, "Beth Alpha", ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', 192. The Greek inscription thanks artisans "Marianos and his son Hanina", who were also listed as the artisans of the nearby Beth Shean synagogue. The inscriptions are flanked on either side by a lion and a buffalo, who serve as the synagogue's symbolic guardians.

Nave mosaics

Northern panel—Binding of Isaac

The northern panel depicts the "

Binding of Isaac The Binding of Isaac (), or simply "The Binding" (), is a story from Book of Genesis#Patriarchal age (chapters 12–50), chapter 22 of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God in Abrahamic religions, God orders A ...

" (Genesis 22: 1–18). To the right,

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

is depicted dangling Isaac over the fiery altar as he raises his hand to perform the sacrifice. In the center, God, symbolized by the small fire- encircled hand appearing in the upper center, instructs Abraham to sacrifice a nearby ram instead of

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

. The hand of God is aptly labeled with "al tishlah" or "do not raise", taken from God's command to the angel that Abraham not "raise his hand against the boy saac (Genesis 22:12). In the lower center of the composition, immediately below the hand of God, the ram that served as Isaac's substitute is positioned standing sideways, trapped in the nearby thicket. The odd positioning of the ram may perhaps be a convention the artists used to convey the distance that the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

says separated Abraham and Isaac, from the two servant boys (Genesis 22:5), who accompanied Abraham and Isaac on their journey, and are depicted standing to the left. All the figures in the scene, except for the two servants, are identified with Hebrew labels. The iconographic significance of the "Binding of Isaac" is unclear. There is a wide variety of opinions, with some scholars seeing this narrative as an affirmation of God's mercy, others as symbolic of his continuing covenant with Israel, and others as embodying the rabbinic notion of "zechut avot" or the merit of the fathers. In contemporaneous Christian church art, where the "Binding of Isaac" was also a popular theme, the narrative was seen as a typological pre-figuration for the crucifixion.

Central panel—zodiac wheel

The central panel features a Jewish

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

. The zodiac consists of two concentric circles, with the twelve zodiac signs appearing in the outer circle, and

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

, the Greco-Roman sun god, appearing in the inner circle. The outer circle consists of twelve panels, each of which correspond to one of the twelve months of the year and contain the appropriate Greco-Roman zodiac sign. Female busts symbolizing the four seasons appear in the four corners immediately outside the zodiac. In the center,

appears with his signature Greco-Roman iconographic elements such as the fiery crown of rays adorning his head and the highly stylized

quadriga A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in classical antiquity and the Roman Empire. The word derives from the Latin , a contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. In Latin the word is almos ...

or four-horse-drawn chariot. The background is decorated with a crescent shaped moon and stars. As in the "Binding of Isaac" panel, the zodiac symbols and seasonal busts are labeled with their corresponding Hebrew names. This zodiac wheel, along with other similar examples found in contemporaneous synagogues throughout Israel such as Naaran, Susiya, Hamat Tiberias, Huseifa, and

Sepphoris Sepphoris ( ; ), known in Arabic as Saffuriya ( ) and in Hebrew as Tzipori ( ''Ṣīppōrī'')Palmer (1881), p115/ref> is an archaeological site and former Palestinian village located in the central Galilee region of Israel, north-northwe ...

, rest at the center of a scholarly debate regarding the relationship between Judaism and general Greco-Roman culture in late-antiquity. Some interpret the popularity that the zodiac maintains within synagogue floors as evidence for its Judaization and adaptation into the Jewish calendar and liturgy. Others see it as representing the existence of a "non-Rabbinic" or a mystical and Hellenized form of Judaism that embraced the astral religion of Greco-Roman culture. Still others see it as simply a common decorative pattern, whose pagan origin was probably forgotten by the time the synagogues were built.

Southern panel—synagogue scene

The southern panel, which was laid before the synagogue's

Torah ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...

, is a liturgically oriented scene emphasizing its centrality. The ark stands at the center of the composition and is depicted with a gabled roof. The ark is decorated with ornamented panels featuring diamonds and squares. The floating

conch shell Conch ( , , ) is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point on both ends). Conchs ...

, seen in the center of the roof, is a stylized representation of the ark's inset arch. A hanging lamp is suspended from the roof's gable. As a symbolic marker of its importance, the lower register of the Torah Shrine is flanked by two roaring lions and is surrounded by Jewish ritual objects such as the

lulav ''Lulav'' (; ) is a closed frond of the date palm tree. It is one of the Four Species used during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The other Species are the '' hadass'' ( myrtle), ''aravah'' (willow), and ''etrog'' (citron). When bound together, ...

etrog Etrog (, plural: ; Ashkenazi Hebrew: , plural: ) is the yellow citron (''Citrus medica'') used by Jews during the weeklong holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the ''lulav'', ''hadass'', and ''Aravah (Sukkot), aravah'', th ...

shofar A shofar ( ; from , ) is an ancient musical horn, typically a ram's horn, used for Jewish ritual purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the player's embouchure. The ...

, and incense shovel. Two birds flank the gabled roof in the upper register of the Torah Shrine. Beyt-Alfa-60

Two large, seven-branched

Temple menorah The Temple menorah (; , Tiberian Hebrew ) is a seven-branched candelabrum that is described in the Hebrew Bible and later ancient sources as having been used in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. Since ancient times, it has served as a ...

s stand on either side of the ark. The base and branches of the two menorahs are not identical in form; the right-hand one has an upright base, while the left-hand one has two crescent-shaped legs and one upright leg. Lastly, the entire scene is framed by the two pulled-back

parochet A ''parochet'' (; ), meaning "curtain" or "screen",Sonne Isaiah (1962) 'Synagogue' in The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible vol 4, New York: Abingdon Press pp 476-491 is the curtain that covers the Torah ark (''Aron Kodesh'') containing the ...

s, which demarcate the ark's sacred space. The presence of the menorahs, which originally stood in the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

, highlights the continuing importance that the Jerusalem Temple occupied in the development of the synagogue. Additionally, the menorahs maintained a practical function as the primary light source for the area around the ark. Sukenik believed that the two Menorot depicted flanking the ark in this scene, likely stood adjacent to the Torah Shrine within the actual Beth Alpha synagogue.Hachlili, ''Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology'', 362; Sukenik, ''Beth Alpha'', 17.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Bet Alfa Synagogue National Park
official website
Photos of Bet Alpha Synagogue
at the

Manar al-Athar Manar al-Athar is a photo archive based at the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford which aims to provide high-quality open-access images of archaeological sites and buildings. The archive's collection focuses on areas of the Roman Em ...

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