Nabratein synagogue

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Nabratein synagogue
בית כנסת נבוריה
Nabratein synagogue is located in Israel
Nabratein synagogue
Shown within Israel
LocationIsrael Israel
Coordinates32°59′31″N 35°31′00″E / 32.991892°N 35.516739°E / 32.991892; 35.516739
History
MaterialStone
Founded2nd century-6th century

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

Background[edit]

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[edit]

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]

The excavated remains of the synagogue indicate 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: “Built four hundred and ninety four years after the destruction of the Temple under the leadership of Hanina ben Lizar and Luliana bar Yuden.”[a][9] The lintel is now displayed at the Israel Museum.[9]

The building stood until 640 CE.[clarification needed][10]

Surveys, excavations and reconstruction[edit]

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.[11]

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.[10]

Artistic legacy[edit]

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.[12]

See also[edit]

Gallery[edit]

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

Footnotes[edit]

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

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Nabratein". The Bornblum Eretz Israel Synagogues website. Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  2. ^ Eric M. Meyers and Carol Meyers (2009). Excavations at Ancient Nabratein: Synagogue and Environs. Meiron Excavation Project Reports - MEPR 6, Eisenbrauns, ISBN 1575061627, books.google.com/books/about/Excavations_at_Ancient_Nabratein.html?id=3-EMAQAAMAAJ (only snippet view on Google Books; June 2024).
  3. ^ Gottfried Reeg, Die Ortsnamen Israels nach der rabbinischen Literatur, L. Reichert: Wiesbaden 1989, p. 352 (in German)
  4. ^ Solomon Schechter & M. Seligsohn, "Jacob of Kefar Neburaya" at Jewish Encyclopedia. Re-accessed 4 June 2024.
  5. ^ Ḥadad, David (2005). Sefer Ma'asei Avoth (in Hebrew). Beer-Sheva. p. (Appendix). OCLC 74311775.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Levi-Naḥum, Yehuda (1986). Sefer ṣohar le-ḥasifat ginzei teiman (in Hebrew). Ḥolon, Israel: Mifʻal ḥaśifat ginze Teman. p. 252. OCLC 15417732., chapter: Tombs of the forefathers and righteous [3]
  7. ^ a b Eric M. Meyers, James F. Strange and Carol L. Meyers, "Second Preliminary Report on the 1981 Excavations at en-Nabratein, Israel", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 246 (Spring, 1982), pp. 35-54. Free access to p. 35 at Chicago Jounals (2024-6-4).
  8. ^ Matassa, Lidia D. (2018). Invention of the First-Century Synagogue (PDF). Ancient Near East monographs (Vol. 22). Society of Biblical Literature (SBL). p. 21. ISBN 0884143198. ISSN 1851-8761. Retrieved 4 June 2024 – via SBL website. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help); no-break space character in |editors= at position 20 (help)
  9. ^ a b "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
  10. ^ a b "Naburiya Synagogue and Nitzana Farm", Yaakov Skolnik for YNetNews, 10 April 2007. Re-accessed 4 June 2024.
  11. ^ Page 243 in: 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.
  12. ^ Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman world: toward a new Jewish archaeology, Steven Fine, Cambridge University Press, 2005, Chapter 1, Building an Ancient Synagogue on the Delaware, pp. 12-21
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