Khirbet Shema

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Khirbet Shema
KH'yrbt SHm` - byt hknst.JPG
The synagogue in Khirbet Shema
Israel relief location map.jpg
Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Khirbet Shema
Shown within Israel
Alternative nameTeqoa of Galilee(?)
Location Israel
Region Northern District
Coordinates 32°58′38″N35°26′21″E / 32.97722°N 35.43917°E / 32.97722; 35.43917
Typesettlement, synagogue, mausoleum
History
Founded180 CE
Abandoned417 CE
PeriodsRoman to Byzantine period
Cultures Jewish
Site notes
Excavation dates1970-1972
ConditionIn ruins

Khirbet Shema [1] is an archaeological site located in Israel at the foot of Mount Meron. It features the ruins of a large Jewish village [2] of the Roman and Byzantine periods, including the remains of an ancient synagogue and a mausoleum. It may be identified with the ancient Teqoa of Galilee.

Contents

Identification

Several researchers have identified the site with the ancient Teqoa of Galilee (not to be confused with Teqoa, Judea), although no evidence has been discovered to verify this identification. [3]

The site

Khirbet Shema is the traditional burial site of Shammai, a contemporary and opponent of Hillel the Elder.The excavations conducted at the site in 1970-1971 revealed that has no archaeological evidence to this tradition. [3]

Excavations

Entrance to Jewish rock-cut burial cave Elaborated Jewish burial cave entrance.jpg
Entrance to Jewish rock-cut burial cave

American archaeologist Eric M. Meyers excavated the site from 1970 to 1972 on behalf of the American Schools of Oriental Research. The area recovered exceeded six acres.

Excavations have uncovered a large mausoleum, numerous tombs and an ancient synagogue. Additionally, their work included "uncovering adjacent buildings and surrounding parts of the village". [4] Even by 1974, having worked with up to 80 people, no remnants of the synagogue's roof were found.

Analysis

Researchers have reviewed the "coins, glass, plaster, ceramic stone, bone, jewelry and some organic materials" found. Although "over 4,000 artifacts have been found in the excavations," [4] there is little evidence of late Hellenistic colonization and the end of Roman times at the site.

The team's Co-head, Dr. James F. Strange, professor of biblical archeology at University of South Florida, [5] indicated that the ruins of the synagogue show it to be unique, both for the area and time of construction. "There were several factors which led us to believe the building was quite unlike any other synagogue in that part of Palestine." [4] Specific features he found noteworthy included "foundation walls .. nearly two feet thick, .. an entrance staircase .. stairs ten feet wide ... and a number of underground chambers."

The bulk of the coins [6] suggest that this area was populated from 180 to around 417 CE, when "the village was destroyed by an earthquake."

Shape of the synagogue

The synagogue in Khirbet Shema PikiWiki Israel 42190 Synagogue in Hurvat Shema on Mt. Meron.jpg
The synagogue in Khirbet Shema

Excavations done in "different sites in upper Galilee: Shema, Meiron, Gush Halav and Nabratein" [7] helped uncover more information about the debate as to "whether the earliest Galilean synagogues .. were built on a so-called basilical plan [8] .. as opposed to a broad building" known as "a broadhouse plan". [9] Khirbet Shema and two other ancient synagogues excavated around the same time all were broadhouse.

Bibliography

See also

Additional reading

Books

Articles

References

  1. ↑ or Khirbat Shema
  2. ↑ Killebrew, Ann E. (2010-08-19). "Village and Countryside". The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Daily Life in Roman Palestine. Oxford University Press. p. 5. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199216437.013.0011.
  3. 1 2 Meyers, Erik (1972). "Ḥurvat Shema' — The Settlement and the Synagogue". Qadmoniot: A Journal for the Antiquities of Eretz-Israel and Bible Lands (in Hebrew). 5 (2 (18)): 58–61. ISSN   0033-4839.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Synagogue of Khirbet Shema Restored" (PDF). Communications of the ACM . February 1974. p. A4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "James F. Strange USF Dean to speak at Brunch". The Jewish Floridian of Pinellas County. April 18, 1986. p. 9.
  6. ↑ one person, Prof. Richard Simon Hanson, was the site's numismatist. "Ancient Numismatics Collection". coins unearthed at Khirbet Shema, ... he was the numismatist
  7. ↑ Eric M. Meyers; Carol L. Meyers (1981). "Finders of a Real Lost Ark".
  8. ↑ (longer, walking in, than wide)
  9. ↑ such as Eshtemoa synagogue: "13.3 m (44 ft) by 21.3 m (70 ft) .. Entry by any of three doors along its eastern side ..
  10. ↑ Meyers, Eric M; Kraabel, A. Thomas; Strange, James F (1976). Ancient synagogue excavations at Khirbet Shema', Upper Galilee, Israel, 1970-1972. Published for the American Schools of Oriental Research by Duke University Press. ISBN   978-0-8223-0377-0. OCLC   813241192.
  11. ↑ Meyers, Eric M.; Kraabel, A. Thomas; Strange, James F. (1976). "Ancient Synagogue Excavations at Khirbet Shema', Upper Galilee, Israel 1970-1972". The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 42: iii–297. doi:10.2307/3768529. JSTOR   3768529. S2CID   133723673.

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