Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery, vol. 1.

• Author: Magness, Jodi

This is the first of two volumes containing a collection of original, translated, and reprinted articles on ancient synagogues, focusing on the period from the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple to the rise of Islam. The eighteen articles in volume I are divided among four thematic sections: "The Origins of Ancient Synagogues"; "The Development of Ancient Synagogues"; "Synagogues and Settlements: Reports and Analyses"; and "The Synagogue's Nature and the Jewish Community." Volume one opens with a "Reader's Guide," written by the editors including summaries of the articles published in both volumes.

The origins of the synagogue and ancient synagogue typology are two hotly debated issues that are highlighted by the articles in this volume. As the editors note, the term "synagogue" can refer to an architectural structure and/or to a community of people. This is especially relevant when discussing the origins of the synagogue, for which a wide range of times and places has been proposed. Since the earliest identifiable synagogue buildings found so far date to the first century B.C.E. or first century C.E., it appears that the synagogue as a gathering of people antedates the development of a distinctive architectural type. In his article on "Egypt and the Rise of Synagogues," J. Gwyn Griffiths argues that the proseuchai or "houses of prayer," mentioned in inscriptions from Egypt dating to the third century B.C.E. and later, represent the earliest evidence for synagogues. Lester L. Grabbe ("Synagogues in Pre-70 Palestine: A Reassessment") notes that there are no definite literary references in Jewish sources or the New Testament to synagogues in Palestine before the Hasmonean period. He concludes that synagogues originated in the Diaspora, perhaps in Ptolemaic Egypt, and reached Palestine by the first century C.E. Paul V. M. Flesher ("Palestinian Synagogues Before 70 C.E.: A Review of the Evidence") agrees that the synagogue first developed in the larger Mediterranean world and suggests that it was not established in Judea before 70 C.E. due to the influence of the Temple cult. Thus, Flesher denies the identification of the structures at Masada and Herodion as synagogues dating to the time of the First Revolt and proposes a post-70 C.E. date for the Theodotos inscription from Jerusalem.

Scholars advocating a Hellenistic Egyptian origin for the synagogue assume that proseuche is an analogous term to synagogue. However, there is no scholarly...