Nabratein synagogue

Nabratein synagogue
Hebrew: בית כנסת נבוריה
Ruins of the former ancient synagogue, in 2008
Religion
Affiliation	Judaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Ancient synagogue Archaeological site
Status	Abandoned
Location
Location	Safed, Upper Galilee, Northern District
Country	Israel
Location of the former ancient synagogue in northeastern Israel
Geographic coordinates	32°59′31″N 35°31′00″E
Architecture
Completed	2nd century-6th century
Materials	Stone

The Nabratein synagogue or Navoraya synagogue^[1] (Hebrew: נבוריה) is a former ancient synagogue and archaeological site, located in a pine forest northeast of Safed, in the Upper Galilee region of the Northern District of Israel.^[2]

Background

Naburiya was a Jewish village in the Galilee region of the Kingdom of Israel during the First^{[dubious – discuss][citation needed]} and Second Temple periods.^{[citation needed]}

Neburaya, identical with Nabratein, is located north of Safed and is the place where Eleazar of Modi'im and Jacob of Kfar Neburaya, a compiler of the Haggadah, are buried.^[3][4]

Mishnaic scholar, R. Eleazar ha-Moda'i, is said to have been buried in Nabratein.^[5][6]

History and architecture

The 1980-81 excavators of the Nabratein/Navoraya synagogue posited that its construction occurred in three phases:^{[clarification needed][1]} first built ("Synagogue 1") during the Middle Roman period (135-250), it was rebuilt during the Late Roman period (250-350/363) - in a first phase between 250-306 ("Synagogue 2a"), and expanded in a second phase between 306-350/363 ("Synagogue 2b").^[7] Some researchers are skeptical about the earliest date suggested by the excavators, i.e. the late 2nd century CE, finding a later date more likely.^[8] Jodi Magness even posits that there has been only one synagogue at the site, not three successive ones, and that it hasn't been built before the second half of the 4th century.^[9]

The analysis of the excavators indicates that it is one of the oldest in the Galilee. The original synagogue was enlarged during the third century and destroyed in the Galilee earthquake of 363.^{[clarification needed][citation needed]}

The final, and much larger, synagogue building was constructed in the late 6th century reusing stones from the earlier building.^[7] The year of its construction is known from the inscription over the main door: "According to the counting of four hundred and ninety-four years to (from) the destruction of the Temple (lit. "House"); built during the public service of Hanina son of ("ben") Lizar and Luliana son of ("bar") Yudan." ^[a][10] Read as "Built 494 years after the destruction of the Temple" etc., so in 564 CE (70+494=564).

The lintel is now displayed at the Israel Museum.^[10]

The building stood until 640 CE.^{[clarification needed][11]}

Surveys, excavations and reconstruction

When Lieut. Kitchener of the Palestine Exploration Fund visited the site in 1877, he found the remains of the synagogue completely leveled to the ground and its columns fallen, along with the lintel of the main entrance.^[12]

The synagogue was excavated in 1905 by Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger, and again in 1980-1981 by Eric and Carol Meyers.^[1]

The façade was partially reconstructed by the Jewish National Fund and the Israel Antiquities Authority.^[11]

Artistic legacy

The seven-branched Menorah surrounded by a wreath over the door of the Henry S. Frank Memorial Synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is copied from the Nabratein synagogue.^[13]

See also

• Ancient synagogues in the Palestine region - refers to the entire Palestine region/Land of Israel
  • Ancient synagogues in Israel - refers to the modern State of Israel
• Archaeology of Israel
• Oldest synagogues in the world
• Synagogal Judaism

Gallery

• 
  Lintel inscribed with menorah
• 
  Lintel of Torah Ark - Nabratein Synagogue. Rockefeller Museum

Footnotes

1. In Hebrew: "למספר ארבע מאות ותישעים וארבע שנה לחרבן הבית ניבנה בסרר חנינה בן ליזר ולוליאנא בר יודן"

References

1. "Nabratein". The Bornblum Eretz Israel Synagogues website. Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
2. Meyers, Eric M.; Meyers, Carol (2009). Excavations at Ancient Nabratein: Synagogue and Environs. Meiron Excavation Project Reports - MEPR 6. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 1575061627. Retrieved 1 June 2024 – via Google Books.
3. Reeg, Gottfried (1989). Reichert, L. (ed.). Die Ortsnamen Israels nach der rabbinischen Literatur (in German). Wiesbaden. p. 352.
4. Schechter, Solomon; Seligsohn, M. "Jacob of Kefar Neburaya". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
5. Ḥadad, David (2005). Sefer Ma'asei Avoth (in Hebrew). Beer-Sheva. p. Appendix. OCLC 74311775.
6. Levi-Naḥum, Yehuda (1986). Sefer ṣohar le-ḥasifat ginzei teiman [Tombs of the forefathers and righteous] (in Hebrew). Ḥolon, Israel: Mifʻal ḥaśifat ginze Teman. p. 252. OCLC 15417732.
7. Meyers, Eric M.; Strange, James F.; Meyers, Carol (1982). "Second Preliminary Report on the 1981 Excavations at en-Nabratein, Israel". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 246 (Spring ed.): 35–54. Retrieved 4 June 2024 – via Chicago Journals. (free access to p. 35).
8. Matassa, Lidia D. (2018). Silverman, Jason M.; Watson, J. Murray (eds.). Invention of the First-Century Synagogue (PDF). Ancient Near East monographs. Vol. 22. Society of Biblical Literature. p. 21. ISBN 978-0884143192. ISSN 1851-8761. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
9. Magness, Jodi (May 2010). "Review: The Ancient Synagogue at Nabratein (Reviewed Work: Excavations at Ancient Nabratein: Synagogue and Environs, Volume VI by Eric M. Meyers, Carol L. Meyers)". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (358): 61–68. doi:10.1086/BASOR25741807. JSTOR 25741807. Retrieved 4 June 2024 – via JSTOR.
10. "XLIV. Kefar Nevoraia", Volume 5/Part 1 Galilaea and Northern Regions: 5876-6924, De Gruyter, pp. 237–239, 2023-03-20, doi:10.1515/9783110715774-052, ISBN 978-3-11-071577-4, retrieved 2024-04-11
11. Skolnik, Yaakov (10 April 2007). "Naburiya Synagogue and Nitzana Farm". YNetNews. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
12. Conder, C. R.; Kitchener, H. H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. p. 243.
13. Fine, Steven (2005). "Chapter 1: Building an Ancient Synagogue on the Delaware". Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world: toward a new Jewish archaeology. Cambridge University Press. pp. 12–21.