The Magdala synagogue and its stone
Purpose-built synagogues stood in Galilean towns during the first century — the setting the Gospels take for granted.
Confirmed by the groundExcavated site1st century AD
A synagogue in use before AD 70, with mosaic and fresco, and at its centre a carved stone block showing a seven-branched menorah — the earliest such depiction known from a synagogue, and apparently carved by someone who had seen the temple.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues.
- Found
- Migdal, on the Sea of Galilee, Israel, 2009 — Israel Antiquities Authority salvage excavation
- Now held at
- In place; the stone in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
- How it reached us
- Dug up, or still standing where it was built.
What it shows
The building is securely pre-70. Any link to a particular visit is not something the archaeology can supply.
How historians use it
A major find for the history of the synagogue; only a handful of pre-70 examples are known.
In Scripture
Connects to
Sources
These summaries are written in English for now. Translations follow.