The gospels describe Jesus visiting the synagogues of Nazareth and Capernaum and report that he "went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues." [Matt. 4:23] It’s clear that synagogues were common in Jewish communities of the first century, but the exact nature of their role and especially their origin is still somewhat of a mystery to Bible scholars, according to archaeologist Jodi Magness, speaking in Madison last night.
Magness, the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was the speaker at the Fifty Third Annual Lecture of the University of Wisconsin Department of Semitic Studies and the Madison Biblical Archaeological Society. The lecture was held at the Pyle Center, on the University of Wisconsin campus.
"Exactly when and where they originated we don’t know," Magness said, describing various theories that date their origin sometime between the seventh and first centuries B.C. The temple in Jerusalem was where the Jews worshipped God, the synagogue was not where worship took place. "But most people needed to have the law read to them and explained to them. This is how the synagogue developed," she said.
There’s evidence that at least one synagogue existed in Jerusalem during the first century, before the Jerusalem temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. during the first Jewish revolt. An inscription was found, written in Greek, by a man named Theodotus the son of Vettanos. He describes himself as a priest (not a rabbi) and an archisynagogos, the leader of the synagogue. He says he is also the grandson of an archisynagogos.
Magness contends that some of the oldest identified synagogues, such as those excavated at Masada and Gamla, dating to the first century, were meeting halls and not built explicitly for religious purposes. After the second Jewish revolt in the early second century, when it became clear the temple would not be rebuilt anytime soon, the synagogue gradually began to take on more importance in Jewish life and worship.
Synagogues that were clearly built for religious purposes don’t appear in the archaeological record until the fourth century, Magness stated. "What happened in the fourth century to change this?" she asked. Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman Empire and a competition for the allegiance of Jewish residents of Palestine intensified between Judaism and Christianity.
She attributes the mosaic depictions of a circular zodiac centered around an image of Helios, the sun or the sun god, found in the ruins of several synagogues of this period, to this competition. Domed churches were being built with depictions of Christ Pantokrater (Jesus the Almighty) in the center. She believes the zodiac was "an attempt to depict in two dimensions, a three dimensional concept," and when Jewish worshipers saw the mosaic zodiac centered on Helios, they would see it representing the sun in the midst of heaven.
Magness also said that the most well-known ancient synagogue in Israel, the half-reconstructed synagogue in Capernaum, is not quite as old as is generally believed. Most archaeologists date it to the second or third century A.D., based on its design. However, recent archaeology done by the Franciscan overseers of the site has uncovered literally tens of thousands of coins under the flagstone flooring, coins that date to the fifth century.
"What they found has come as a shock to everybody," she said. "It has created an uproar. Many of my Jewish colleagues have refused to accept the evidence."
Modern visitors to the ruins of Capernaum are told that the ruins of the synagogue from Jesus time are underneath the synagogue that is seen today. There are remains of first century buildings underneath. But Magness claims "nothing in the archaeological record would show the ruins as a synagogue."
But the existence of this later synagogue is also somewhat of a mystery. Just a stones throw from this synagogue has been identified the ruins of the apostle Peter’s house, which became an early church. "Villages in the Galilee in this period were very homogeneous," she said. "They did not have mixed populations. It’s very curious."
There are few if any other examples of a church and a synagogue together in a village in this period anywhere else in the Galilee. Although larger cities had mixed populations, villages were either Jewish or Christian, just as today they are either Jewish or Arab.
One archaeologist, Zvi Maoz, has suggested that the Christian residents of Capernaum, recognizing the attraction for pilgrims of seeing the synagogue of the centurion [Luke 7:5] in the town that was the center for Jesus’ ministry, brought the ruins of a synagogue from another location and rebuilt it in Capernaum.
"I don’t accept that definition," Magness said, "but I like it. It’s very ingenious."
The final Madison Biblical Archaeology Society lecture of this spring will be held May 12, at Edgewood College. Jodi Magness was interviewed for The Book & the Spade radio program, which can be heard at 11:19am Sundays on WNWC 1190AM, and accessed anytime online at www.radioscribe.com/bknspade.htm.