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Eshtemoa Synagogue
Eshtemoa Synagogue
Hebrew: אשׁתמע
	Ruins of the Eshtemoa site, in 1975
Religion
Affiliation	Judaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Ancient synagogue; Archeological site;
Status	Ruins
Location
Location	South of Hebron, as-Samu, West Bank
Country	State of Palestine
	Location of the former ancient synagogue in the West Bank
Geographic coordinates	31°24′03″N 35°04′01″E / 31.400792°N 35.067075°E
Architecture
Type	Broadhouse
Completed	4th–5th century CE
	Eshtemoa synagogue
Site notes
Excavation dates	1934, 1969-70.
Archaeologists	Leo Aryeh Mayer; A. Reifenberg; Ze'ev Yeivin;

The Eshtemoa Synagogue is a former ancient Jewish synagogue and archeological site, located 15 km (9.3 mi) south of Hebron in as-Samu, West Bank, in the State of Palestine. The remains of the ancient Palestinian synagogue date from around the 4th–5th century CE.

History

Eshtemoa, identified as modern as-Samu, was an ancient city named in the Bible (Joshua 21:14). During Roman and Byzantine period, Eshtemoa was described as a large Jewish village.^[1]

Architecture and description

The remains of the synagogue were identified by L. A. Mayer and A. Reifenberg in 1934,^[2] in which site they describe a recess in the wall, once used as a Torah Ark ("Heikhal").^[3]^[4]

In 1969–70, a full excavation of the site under the guidance of Ze'ev Yeivin revealed that the building occupied the most prominent site in the village. Ancillary buildings attached to the synagogue were removed in order to reveal the old structure.^[5]

The old synagogue was built in "broadhouse" style without columns and measured 13.3 by 21.3 metres (44 by 70 ft).^[6] Entry was by any of three doors along its eastern side and one of the three niches recessed into the northern wall functioned as the Torah Ark. The building housed a mosaic floor and displayed external ornamental carvings.^[1] Four seven-branched menorahs were discovered carved onto door lintels and one of them is displayed in Jerusalem's Rockefeller Museum.^[7] Along the northern and southern walls of the synagogue were built two benches, one on top of the other, of which only remnants remain.^[5]

Aftermath of the Islamic conquest

After the Muslim conquest, the synagogue was converted into a mosque and a mihrab was added.^[6]^[8] The mihrab was built in place of the bench that ran along its southern wall.^[5]

According to a local tradition, this addition was made during the conquest of Saladin (in the 12th century), rather than during the early Muslim conquest of the Levant.^[5] Robert Schick suggests that the conversion may have taken place in the 10th century instead of during the Umayyad period.^[9]

A Crusader church was constructed near the eastern side of the synagogue in the 12th century.^[5]

The western wall is still standing to a height of 7 m (23 ft).^[6] Many architectural elements of the building have been reused in the modern village.^[10]

In 2024, the synagogue was the targeted in an arson attack. Local settler activists described it as an attempt to "erase Jewish identity".^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b Negev, Avraham Negev; Gibson, Shimon (July 2005). Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 167–168. ISBN 978-0-8264-8571-7. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
^ Mayer, L. A.; Reifenberg, A. (1939). "The Synagogue of Eshtemoa - Preliminary Report". Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society. 19: 314–326. OCLC 873183425.
^ Press, I., ed. (1951), "אשתמוע", A Topographical-Historical Encyclopaedia of Palestine, vol. 1, Jerusalem: Rubin Mass, p. 26 (folio iii)
^ Abel, F. M. (1929). Revue Biblique. Vol. 35. pp. 585–ff.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Amit, David (n.d.). "es-Samua'". In Ben-Yosef, Sefi (ed.). Israel Guide - Judaea (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country) (in Hebrew). Vol. 9. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, in affiliation with the Israel Ministry of Defence. pp. 146–149. OCLC 745203905.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c Stemberger, Günter (2000). Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in the fourth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-567-08699-0. Retrieved 29 September 2010 – via Google Books.
^ Yarden, Léon (1971). The tree of light: a study of the Menorah, the seven-branched lampstand. East and West Library. p. 151. ISBN 9780852222805. Retrieved 29 September 2010 – via Google Books.
^ El-Haj, Nadia Abu (2001). Facts on the ground: archaeological practice and territorial self-fashioning in Israeli society. University of Chicago Press. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-226-00195-1. Retrieved 29 September 2010 – via Google Books.
^ Schick, Robert (1995). The Christian Communities of Palestine from Byzantine to Islamic Rule: A Historical and Archaeological Study. Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam 2. Princeton, NJ: The Darwin Press.
^ Greenberg, Raphael; Keinan, Adi (2009). Israeli Archaeological Activity in the West Bank 1967-2007: A Sourcebook (PDF). Ostracon. p. 136. ISBN 978-965-91468-0-2.
^ "Fire targets synagogue in southern West Bank. Settler activists call it terrorist hate crime". The Times of Israel. 2024.