Bet Alpha

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Bet Alpha National Park

Bet Alpha or Beth Alpha ( Hebrew : בית אלפא) is an ancient synagogue from the 6th century AD, discovered in 1929 in what is today Israel . It is located on the northern side at the foot of Mount Gilboa in the Bet She'an Valley and is characterized by its well-preserved mosaics and inscriptions. Tell el-Hösn is about 8 km away . The synagogue was probably destroyed in an earthquake in 749 AD and was not rebuilt for unknown reasons.

Today it is open to tourists as Bet Alpha Synagogue National Park and is managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority .

excavation

Excavation site 1928

In December 1928, young people from the neighboring kibbutz Chefziba , founded in 1922, came across a mosaic floor with Hebrew inscriptions while laying an irrigation canal. You belonged to the socialist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair . The first, anti-religious impulse was to fill up the find again; the second, it could be a historically and politically significant ground monument. They therefore reported their find to the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Hebrew University . In January 1929, the excavation of the site began, which lasted seven weeks. The team, led by the archaeologist Eleazar L. Sukenik , began marking the outer walls and then uncovering the floor with the various mosaics. The excavation of the Bet Alpha synagogue is considered to be the “first moment of popular enthusiasm for Jewish archeology in the new yishuv”; It was less significant that it was a religious building than a "manifestation of a former Jewish presence in the same place."

construction

Model of the synagogue

The base of the synagogue is 14.20 × 27.70 meters and consists of a hall in the style of a basilica with a main aisle and two side aisles. The building also has an inner courtyard, a porch with columns ( narthex ) and most likely a gallery for the female members of the community. The apse is to the south toward Jerusalem aligned. The walls are made of rough limestone that was plastered inside . Based on the finds of roof tiles , it is assumed that the building had a gable roof .

In the 1960s, the remains of a few houses were found near the synagogue, suggesting that the synagogue was part of a Jewish settlement.

inner space

Room layout and furnishings

There were three entrance doors in the north wall. In the south of the main hall there was a platform on which the Torah shrine stood. On the west side there was a small side room, the dimensions of which could no longer be determined to the north. The vestibule adjoining the main hall to the north was 2.57 m long and there were benches in the western and eastern parts of the vestibule. The forecourt was 9.65 m long and there was probably a water basin for ritual cleansing in the middle. The forecourt could be entered through a door in the west. The peculiarity of this synagogue are the well-preserved floor mosaics.

Floor mosaics

Mosaics in the nave

The entire floor of the building is covered with mosaics. The courtyard, aisles and narthex are decorated with simple geometric patterns, and in the main nave there is also a three-part, representational structure. There are three fields from north to south, i.e. in the direction of entering and crossing the area:

The simple but impressive style of the mosaics represents a folk art that must have developed in Galilee and the mosaics are one of the best preserved examples of Jewish art in the Byzantine era . There are two inscriptions in the entrance area of ​​the synagogue. The Aramaic dates the building to the reign of Justinian I , the second, Greek , names the mosaicists , Marianos and his son Hanina.

Torah shrine

The first, narrow, field shows a Torah shrine with closed doors and a gable roof in the middle. There are three vases on the lintel of the Torah shrine and two horns at either end. A lamp hangs down from the roof gable, which is supposed to symbolize the Eternal Light . There is a shell underneath. To the left and right of the Torah shrine are two large birds of an unknown species and underneath two lions. In addition to the birds and above the lions are each a Menorah and other ritual objects, such as shofar , ethrog, Lulav and incense shovels.

Zodiac

The second, largest, field with the zodiac is set in a square frame with the four seasons in the form of angels , each in a corner. In the center of the circle the personified sun deity (sun as a young man) is depicted in a chariot (sun chariot) drawn by four horses. The moon and stars can be seen in the background, giving way to the rising sun.

The outer circle shows the twelve signs of the zodiac. To the right of the young man in the inner circle, the zodiac signs of the spring months can be seen ( viewed counterclockwise ): Aries , Taurus and Gemini . This is followed by Cancer , Leo, and Virgo for the summer months. The autumn months are represented by Libra , Scorpio and Sagittarius , the winter months by Capricorn , Aquarius and finally Pisces .

In the four corners there are winged angels as personification of the four seasons. However, spring is in the zodiac signs for summer, followed (viewed counterclockwise) by summer , autumn and winter .

The images are all in a frontal view and are very colorful and expressive.

Sacrifice of Isaac

The third, narrow, field shows the biblical story of the sacrifice of Isaac . Viewed from the left, two men can be seen with a saddled donkey . This is followed by a ram tied to a tree. The hand visible above the tree represents the messenger of God. Abraham is shown particularly large in the picture and the main figure. In his right hand he holds a knife and in the left his son Isaac , whose hands are tied together and who is depicted relatively small. The flames are already blazing on the altar on the right edge of the picture. The inscriptions on Abraham and Isaac designate these people.

Outer frame

The outer frame of the central mosaic shows various motifs. On the south side a bird with long red legs, a hen with chicks and a pomegranate tree .

In the east: a basket filled with fruit , a fox , a colored pheasant , a man with a bird in his hand. The next motif is destroyed. This is followed by the motif of a rabbit and three other unidentified objects in yellow and brown. This is followed by another cat-like animal and a bird.

The border on the north side shows a lion in the east and an ox in the west (guardian animals?). In between two inscriptions in Aramaic (the larger one) and Greek . From the first two lines of the inscription in Aramaic it can be seen that the synagogue was built under the reign of Emperor Justinian I (518-527). The Greek, completely preserved, inscription praises the craftsmen of the synagogue construction (translation uncertain): May the craftsmen, Marianos and his son Hanania, who carried out this work, be kept in memory.

On the west side of the frame there are motifs such as grapes, vases and fruits.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fabian Brand in The Synagogue of Bet Alpha and its mosaics , In the Land of the Lord , Franciscan Journal for the Holy Land, No. 4, Munich 2017, p. 134.
  2. ↑ Bet Alfa Synagogue National Park
  3. ↑ a b Markus Kirchhoff, Yaacov Shavit: Art. Archeology . In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture , Volume 1. Metzler, Stuttgart 2011, pp. 138–145, here p. 144.
  4. ↑ Eleazar L. Sukenik: The ancient synagogue of Beth Alpha , Jerusalem 1932, pp. 5-7.
  5. ↑ Avi-Yonah, Michael, Bet Alfa, in: Encyclopaedia Judaica , Detroit 2007; Fabian Brand in The Synagogue of Bet Alpha and its mosaics , In the Land of the Lord , Franciscan Journal for the Holy Land, No. 4, Munich 2017, p. 132.
  6. ↑ Fabian Brand in The Synagogue of Bet Alpha and its mosaics , In the Land of the Lord , Franciscan Journal for the Holy Land, No. 4, Munich 2017, p. 132.
  7. ↑ Fabian Brand in The Synagogue of Bet Alpha and its mosaics , In the Land of the Lord , Franciscan Journal for the Holy Land, No. 4, Munich 2017, p. 134.
  8. ↑ http://www.israelmagazin.de/historisches/bet-alpha accessed on April 28, 2015
  9. ↑ Fabian Brand in The Synagogue of Bet Alpha and its mosaics , In the Land of the Lord , Franciscan Journal for the Holy Land, No. 4, Munich 2017, p. 132.
  10. ↑ Avi-Yonah, Michael, Bet Alfa . In: Encyclopaedia Judaica, Detroit 2007
  11. ↑ Fabian Brand in The Synagogue of Bet Alpha and its mosaics , In the Land of the Lord , Franciscan Journal for the Holy Land, No. 4, Munich 2017, p. 134.
  12. ↑ Fabian Brand in The Synagogue of Bet Alpha and its mosaics , In the Land of the Lord , Franciscan Journal for the Holy Land, No. 4, Munich 2017, p. 136.
  13. ↑ Fabian Brand in The Synagogue of Bet Alpha and its mosaics , In the Land of the Lord , Franciscan Journal for the Holy Land, No. 4, Munich 2017, p. 137.

Web links

Commons : Bet Alpha  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 32 ° 31 '8.8 "  N , 35 ° 25' 36.5"  E