Synagogue of Sardis
Coordinates: 38 ° 29 ′ 18 ″ N , 28 ° 2 ′ 25 ″ E
The synagogue of Sardis was discovered in 1962 during excavations in Sardis . The late antique building is one of the best preserved and largest ancient Jewish houses of worship outside of Palestine .
The building is in the center of the city. In the place of the later building there was a bathroom and a high school. By converting part of the bath, a large hall was created with an atrium in front of it , in the middle of which there is still a huge, stone goblet. The building was 120 m long, 18 m wide and represents a typical basilica . There is a long central hall, which is flanked by two rows of columns. At the end there is an apse and a marble table. It is believed that it could hold around 1000 prayers, which is an indication of the size of the community and its prosperity in Sardis. The building is richly decorated with geometric mosaics . The walls were covered with colored marble.
The exact dating of the synagogue is controversial in research. From the coins under the mosaics, it was dated to the fourth century. However, more recent studies of the style of the mosaics indicate that the mosaics and thus the synagogue can be classified in the sixth century. It is also possible that there was a church here as early as the fourth century, which was then richly decorated in the sixth century.
Various Greek and Hebrew inscriptions were found that allow the building to be identified as a synagogue.
literature
- Frank Moore Cross: The Hebrew inscriptions from Sardis , In: Harvard Theological Review , 95.1 (2002), pp. 3-19
- John H. Kroll: The Greek inscriptions of the Sardis synagogue , In: Harvard Theological Review , 94.1 (2001), pp. 5-127
- Jodi Magnes: The Date of the Sardis Synagogue in Light of the Numismatic Evidence , In: American Journal of Archeology , 109: 3 (July 2005), pp. 443-475
- Andrew R. Seager: The Building History of the Sardis Synagogue , In: American Journal of Archeology , 76 (1972), pp. 425-35
