Migdal

Migdal
	Migdal on the Sea of Galilee
Basic data
hebrew :	מגדל
State :	Israel
District :	North
Coordinates :	32 ° 50 ' N , 35 ° 30' E Coordinates: 32 ° 50 '21 " N , 35 ° 30' 27" E
Residents :	1941 (as of 2018)
Community code :	0065
Time zone :	UTC + 2
	Migdal
	Migdal

Migdal ( Hebrew מגדל, "Tower"; in the New Testament in the Aramaic form Magdala , in Flavius Josephus under the name Tarichea , Arabic قرية المجدل, DMG Qaryat al-Maǧdal ) is a village on the west bank of the Sea of Galilee , about 6 km north of Tiberias .

history

Magdala Archaeological Park - aerial view

In ancient times, Magdala was a larger city. The Hellenistic Tarichea was probably at least since the 1st century BC. One of the largest places in Galilee with 37,600 inhabitants after Josephus. Historical sources from Flavius Josephus , Pliny the Elder , Cicero and Suetonius , among others , emphasize the importance of this city in early Roman times due to the excellent salted fish and the market.

The New Testament Magdala is known as the home of Mary Magdalene (Mary of Magdala), an early follower of Jesus . Magdala is mentioned 11 times in the Bible and there exclusively in the four Gospels , in connection with Mary Magdalene. In addition, it is reported in the Gospel of Matthew that after the miracle of the feeding of the 4000 Jesus got into the boat and went to the Magadan area ( Mt 15.39 EU ). This place is referred to in the Gospel of Mark as Dalmanutha ( Mk 8.10 EU ) and in some older Bible translations (including the Luther Bible from 1953 and in the Jörg Zink Bible ) equated with Magdala. This view is supported by the fact that the letter n in Hebrew words is often replaced by an l in Aramaic. So it is possible that Magadan became Magdala. It can be assumed that Jesus himself was in Magdala and taught in the synagogue there ( Mt 4,23 EU ). This gives the archaeological park with ruins from the 1st century a special historical significance from both a Jewish and a Christian perspective.

According to Josephus, the inhabitants of the place fought against Herod I and the Romans . They found protection from the persecutors in the countless caves of the Wadi el-Hamam , a canyon-like valley west of Migdal. As part of this conflict, the place was destroyed in 67 AD.

According to historical sources, Helena (mother Constantine the Great) visited ruins of the old Magdala in the 4th century and had a basilica built over the place where the house of Maria Magdalena was supposed to be at that time.

Crusaders built a church in the 12th century that later fell into disrepair.

The Arab fishing village al-Medschdel was located here until 1948. The village was razed to the ground during the War of Independence .

The current agricultural settlement of Migdal dates back to 1910 and had 1,880 inhabitants on December 31, 2016.

Excavations

Magdala Synagogue, reading room

Magdala stone depicting the menorah on the front

Rose window in the corridor of the Magdala Synagogue

Fish tank in the market area

Magdala fisherman's house

In the 1970s and from 2007 to 2009 excavations were carried out on the site of the Franciscans (OFM) . During emergency excavations before the construction of a hotel on the neighboring property of the Legionaries of Christ , the remains of an approximately 120 m² antique synagogue with a mosaic floor, surrounding stone benches and frescoed walls were found.

The Magdala Archaeological Park, which is accessible to tourists, was opened on May 28, 2014. In addition to the most important find, the synagogue from the 1st century, the market area, private houses, the fisherman's house, the ritual area with the house of the cube and a warehouse on the quay. What is special about the remains of the settlement found here is that the stratum 3 stratum from the early Roman period, i. H. from the 1st century BC BC and 1st century AD, as this place was hardly populated or overbuilt after its destruction in 67 AD (only a few remains in stratum 1 from the Byzantine period and in stratum 2 from the late Roman Period). 2,500 coins from both the 1st and 2nd centuries were found. The latter show that Magdala was not completely destroyed after all - contrary to the report by Flavius Josephus.

synagogue

→ Main article: Synagogue (Magdala)

In 2009 the ruins of a synagogue from the 1st century were found under a 30 cm deep layer of earth, which was probably also used in Jesus' time and in which he could have taught. According to the excavation director Dina Avschalom-Gorni, it is the oldest known synagogue from the time of the Second Temple . The synagogue is one of the seven 1st century synagogues found in Israel so far (2018). Early age may be a. evidenced by found pottery fragments and by the fact that a coin was found in the synagogue, which was minted in Tiberias in the year 29. The most important find in the synagogue is a stone block, which is decorated with reliefs on four sides and the surface and shows a menorah on the front . Dina Avschalom-Gorni considers the representation of the menorah to be the oldest preserved. The two long sides and the back show three or two arches supported by four or three columns. The rosette pattern on the upper side consists of 12 leaves and forms the basis for the logo of the Magdala Archaeological Park. The rosette pattern was also found in mosaics in the ritual area. It is believed that the stone served as a reading table for Torah scrolls . The synagogue consists of two large rooms (anteroom on the west side and reading room on the east side) and a smaller room (on the south-west corner). The reading room is surrounded by an elevated corridor, the floor of which is decorated with ornaments, etc. a. a rosette with eight leaves. The walls and columns show colored frescoes (dark red, yellow, blue, black and white).

market

A paved road in north-south direction connects to the south of the synagogue. Remains of small shops can be seen east of this street. Remnants of clay dishes, woven goods and food were found here. Some of these shops are equipped with small tanks that may have been used for processing and trading fish.

Residential and farm buildings

South of the market is a district with residential and farm buildings, with the eastern part mainly being used for food production (e.g. grinding of grain, drying and salting of meat and fish) and the western part being used for warehousing, e.g. B. for grain, served - as confirmed by chemical analyzes. The living area is laid out in a grid shape with straight and intersecting streets. Remains of stairs made of basalt indicate that the buildings had two floors. To the east of this district, a work area called the fisherman's house was found; H. a single building with different rooms and a paved courtyard where fishing objects such as hooks, weights and fishing nets have been found.

Ritual district

Also south of the market is a ritual area with three (or four?) Mikwaot (plural of Mikveh) for purification according to the Jewish rite, which are fed from the groundwater. The district consists of small streets and rooms, some with mosaic floors. Such mosaics were found in what is known as the “House of the Cube”. The mosaic floor is multicolored (red, black and white) and shows the rosette pattern, which was also found in the synagogue, in a rhombus. This find as well as the higher quality building material (hewn basalt stones) indicate a higher economic status of the owner.

Warehouse and wharf

In the eastern part of the archaeological park near the Sea of Galilee, the remains of a large warehouse divided into halls and a stone quay were found.

Magdala Center

Mosaic chapel of the calling of the disciples Simon Peter and Andrew through Jesus

The Legionaries of Christ have been running the Magdala Center since 2004 , the cornerstone of which was founded by Pope Benedict XVI. was blessed, and engaged in the excavation work. This center consists of the spirituality center and (partly still under construction or in planning) a guest house, restaurant, visitor center, Magdalena Institute and an open-air spirituality center as an amphitheater on the lake shore (for up to 1000 people).

The spirituality center “Duc In Altum” (named after Lk 5.4 EU ) includes the women's atrium, the boat chapel (for about 300 people), four mosaic chapels (for 50 people each) and a meeting chapel (for 120 people). In the women's atrium, seven pillars represent different New Testament women who followed Jesus. An eighth pillar honors all women who have lived the Christian faith. In the boat chapel, the boat-shaped altar and the view of the Sea of Galilee are reminiscent of Jesus' sermon from the boat. The mosaics in the mosaic chapels depict various biblical scenes from the area around the Sea of Galilee: Mary Magdalene ( Lk 8.2 EU ), Jesus walking on the water ( Matt 14.29-31 EU ), the healing of the daughter of Jairus ( Mk 5,41 EU ) and the calling of the disciples Simon Peter and Andrew ( Mt 4,19 EU ).

Local associations

Association for the Needy Child in Israel , a German-Israeli welfare organization.

literature

Jürgen Zangenberg : Magdala on Lake Gennesaret. Reflections on the so-called “mini-sinagoga” and some other observations on the cultural profile of the place in New Testament times . Spenner, Waltrop 2001, ISBN 3-933688-49-3 .
Marcela Zapata Meza: New Mexican Excavations in Magdala - The "Magdala Archaeological Project" . In: Jürgen Zangenberg, Jens Schröter (Ed.): Farmers, fishermen and prophets. Galilee in the time of Jesus . von Zabern, Darmstadt 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4543-9 , pp. 85-98 ( digitized copy of a reprint ).
Richard Bauckham (Ed.): Magdala of Galilee. A Jewish city in the Hellenistic and Roman period . Baylor University Press, Waco 2018, ISBN 978-1-4813-0293-7 .