Ed-Dikke synagogue

ed-Dikke synagogue
Religion
Affiliation	Judaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Ancient synagogue Archaeological site
Status	Ruins
Location
Location	Golan Heights
Country	Syria
Location of the ancient former synagogue in the Golan Heights
Geographic coordinates	32°55′19″N 35°37′33″E
Architecture
Completed	c. 460 CE
Interior area	11 by 14 metres (36 by 46 ft)
Khirbet ed-Dikke
Site notes
Excavation dates	1905
Archaeologists	Gottlieb Schumacher (1880s); Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger (1905)

The ed-Dikke Synagogue is an ancient Jewish synagogue, located 3 km (1.9 mi) north of the Sea of Galilee on the eastern bank of the Jordan River in what are the Golan Heights, (Jaulan), Syria. The synagogue was completed in the c. 5th century CE.^[1]

History

The synagogue, located at a site known as Khirbet ed-Dikke, was first identified by Gottlieb Schumacher in the 1880s.^[2][3] In 1905, Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger briefly investigated the site.^[4]

The building is thought to date from c. 460 CE^[5] and consists of a prayer hall measuring approximately 11 by 14 m (36 by 46 ft). It was divided into three aisles by two rows of four columns each.^[6]

See also

• Archaeology of Israel
• History of the Jews in Syria
• List of synagogues in Syria

References

1. "Khirbet Dikke and the Synagogues in and around Bethsaida Valley". Archaostyle. Archaostyle Scientific Series 7. Qazrin. 2009. (191 pages; 58 illustrations; 1 map).
2. "Ramat Ha-Golan". Jewish Virtual Library.
3. Schumacher, G. (1888). The Jaulân: surveyed for the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land. London: R. Bentley. pp. 120–123.
4. Avi-Yonah, Michael (1978). Encyclopedia of archaeological excavations in the Holy Land. Prentice-Hall. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-13-275123-0. Retrieved October 3, 2010 – via Google Books.
5. Milson, D. (1989). "Byzantine Architects at Work at Herodium, Palaestina Prima". LA (39): 209.
6. Stemberger, Günter (2000). Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in the fourth century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-567-08699-0. Retrieved October 3, 2010 – via Google Books.