Lamp and Light in the Ancient Synagogue, Thesis submitted for the Master of Arts Degree
133
0 The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Faculty of Humanities The Institute of Archaeology Lamp and Light in the Ancient Synagogue by Naama Sharabi Thesis submitted for the Master of Arts Degree, under the supervision of Prof. Zeev Weiss, The Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem October 2013
Transcript of Lamp and Light in the Ancient Synagogue, Thesis submitted for the Master of Arts Degree
0
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Faculty of Humanities
The Institute of Archaeology
Lamp and Light in the Ancient Synagogue
by
Naama Sharabi
Thesis submitted for the Master of Arts Degree,
under the supervision of Prof. Zeev Weiss,
The Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
October 2013
1
Contents
1. Introduction 4-11
1.1. State of research 5
1.2. Time frames and definitions 6
1.2.1 Illumination vessels 6
1.2.2 Artistic renditions 8
1.2.3 Dispersion in the structures 9
1.2.4 Literary sources 9
1.3. Aims of research 11
2. Synagogues with illumination vessels 12-33
Dates and artifacts of each site:
Meroth, Gush Halav, Nabratein, Khirbet Shema, Kfar Hannaniah,
Khirbet Wadi Hamam, Hammath Tiberias North, Hammath Tiberias II
and I, Sepphoris, Sumaqa, Kafr Misr, Caesarea, Beit Shean North,
Maoz Hayyim, Rehov, Jericho, Ein Gedi, Hurbat Maon, Khirbet
Susiya, Estemoa, Hurbat Anim, Horvat Rimmon, Maon Nirim
3. Discussion 34-62
3.1. Lamp types attested at the sites 34
3.1.1. Ceramic lamps 34
3.1.2. Glass lamps 35
3.1.2.1. Conch-shaped Lamps 35
3.1.2.2. Hemispherical bowls with handles
on the body of the vessel 36
3.1.2.3. Glass lamp with handles 37
3.1.2.4. Glass lamps with a stem 38
2
3.1.3. Metal lamps 39
3.1.3.1. Bronze lamps 39
3.1.3.2. Polycandela 40
3.1.3.3. Chain Hangers 41
3.1.3.4. Chains 42
3.1.3.5. Wall Holders 43
3.1.3.6. Menoroth 44
3.1.4. Stone lamps, Menoroth 44
3.1.5. Equipment 47
3.1.5.1. Metal 47
3.1.5.2. Wick-Holders 48
3.1.6. Other lamps depicted in artistic renditions
found in synagogues 49
3.2. Where the lamps were unearthed 53
3.2.1. Interred or dumped 53
3.2.2. Storerooms or interment 55
3.2.3. Finds in destruction levels 59
4. Written Sources on the illumination of synagogues 63-73
4.1. Sources on lamps 63
4.2. How the lamps were used in Synagogues 67
4.2.1. Illumination 67
4.2.2. Lighting of lamps used as a ritual 70
4.2.3. Donations 72
3
5. Conclusions 74-81
5.1. Lamps and their uses 74
5.1.1. The Hall 74
5.1.2. The Apse and bema 75
5.1.3 Repositories 77
5.1.4. Other rooms 79
5.2 Functions 80
5.3 Conclusion 80
Bibliography 82-97
Figures 98-121
List of figures 122-132
4
1. Introduction
The Ancient Synagogue as known through archaeological excavations was an
elaborate building featuring a wide specter of decorative features. Among these
features were architectural elements as carved stone windows. But few structures have
walls remaining at such a height as to have the windows intact. One exception is the
large synagogue at Kfar Baram1. The synagogue features large rectangular windows
in the facade. Several other synagogues have revealed elaborate stone blocks
interpreted as window pediments. The windows would have let in a fare amount of
light on bright days.
Still, on cloudy days as well as in the evening would additional illumination have
been necessary. The service performed in ancient synagogues included the reading of
passages from the Torah2. The performance of this task would have necessitated
ample illumination. The illuminating of public space, as the synagogue is reflected in
the Mishna and later sources, as is the use of additional light for the study of the
Torah3. The actual illumination of the buildings is also reflected in remains excavated
at several ancient synagogues in the country4.
In the following work will I not concentrate on the presence and distribution of the
windows at the sites, as few are standing to this date and the reconstruction of those
fallen are speculative. I will concentrate my work on the numerous illumination
equipment unearthed in several excavations of synagogues in the country. This
1 M. Aviam, "The Ancient Synagogues of Bar'am", Qadmoniot 35 (2002), pp. 118-125 (Hebrew).
2 L.I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue: the First Thousand Years (2005), 2
nd edition, p. 577.
3 Mishna Pesahim, 4.4; Mishna Terumot, 11:10; Leviticus Rabba 19 a (ed. Margulies), (Hebrew);
Shemot rabba, parasha 47:5 (ed. A.A. Halevi), (Hebrew). 4 See chapter 3.
5
includes: ceramic lamps though few, but present, glass lamps of numerous types and
bronze lamps though few remains at the sites. The chains and stands that the lamps
used to be hung by, will also be included, as will equipment associated with the
lamps. The few but magnificent remains of hard limestone and marble candelabras, or
so-called seven-branched menoroth, menorah in singular, will also be included as
some of the fragments reveals receptacles that could facilitate lamps, while one
fragment have remains of soot indicating that it was actually lit5.
1.1 State of research
I have found no work dealing exclusively with the illumination of the ancient
synagogue. L.I. Levine's extensive book on the various aspects of the ancient
synagogue only mentions illumination concerning the use of menoroth and the eternal
light or ner tamid in synagogues6. Hachlili treats the menoroth and hanging lamps on
artistic depictions in terms of iconography and symbolism, in her work on art and
architecture of the ancient synagogues of the country7. She also deals extensively with
several aspects of seven-branched lamp-stands in her book on the menorah8. Fine
deals with the holiness of the ancient synagogue in the context of Temple imagery9.
He mentions the donation of oil, the use of both menoroth and hanging lamps as
5 N. Slouschz, Qobetz (Journal of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society), 1:1 (1925), pp. 32-33
(Hebrew); Z. Yeivin, Inscribed Marble Fragments from the Kh. Susiya Synagogue, IEJ 24 (1974), p.
209, pl. 44: D; L.A. Mayer and A. Reifenberg, "The Synagogue at Eshtemo'a", Yediot 9 (1941-1942),
p. 94 (Hebrew); Z. Yeivin, "Reconstruction of the Southern Interior Wall of the Khorazin Synagogue",
Eretz-Israel, Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies, Vol. 18 (1985), p. 272, pl. 54:5
(Hebrew). 6 Levine, supra no 2, pp. 356-360.
7 R. Hachlili, Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Land of Israel (1988), pp. 238, 251, 268-272,
plate 54 a and b. 8 R. Hachlili, The Menorah, The Ancient Seven-Armed Candelabrum: Origin, Form and Significance
(2003). 9 S. Fine, This Holy Place: on the Sanctity of the Synagogue During the Greco-Roman Period (1997),
pp. 76, 80, 84-85, 114-116.
6
means of focal points, i.e. the area towards which the congregation centered their
attention during service, and the use of votive lighting. Both Shmuel Safrai and Zeev
Safrai have dealt with the use of menorah and eternal lamps in synagogues and their
connection to the Temple in Jerusalem10
.
1.2. Time frames and definitions
The synagogues mentioned in this work mainly belong to the Byzantine Period in
Eretz Israel (324-638); they span from the 4th
to the 8th
century, i.e. in the Early
Muslim Period. This corresponds mainly to the Amoraic and early Gaonic Age. I
restrict the area dealt with to Eretz Israel, thus excluding the sphere of the Gaonic
Babylonia, Egypt and the rest of the Byzantine Empire. The synagogues will as far as
possible be named according to how they were named when published.
1.2.1. Illumination vessels
Ceramic lamps will be dealt with as one kind of vessel, even though the group
includes a wide variety of lamp types, but the shape of the lamps was basically the
same, as was the use of the different types.
Glass lamps, however, could due to differences in shape be used for different
purposes and in different fixtures. The division of the glass lamps is mainly based on
the early work of Crowfoot and Harding as well as the extensive work of S. Hadad,
but also to a certain degree on the doctorate of D. Barag and Y. Israelis publication of
10
S. Safrai, "The Temple and the Synagogue", in: A. Kasher, A. Oppenheimer, U. Rappaport (eds),
Synagogues in Antiquity (1987), pp. 48-49 (Hebrew); Z. Safrai, "From the Synagogue to "Little
Temple", WCJS, 10, B/II, Jerusalem 1990, p. 23.
7
the glass collection of the Israel Museum as well as M. O`Hea`s publications on
glass11
.
Thus are the "conical lamps" based on Crowfoot and Hardens term for their lamp type
Karanis A (fig. 1:1), corresponding to Barag's type 1 (fig. 1:2)12
. "Hemispherical
bowls" are also based on Crowfoot and Hardens term for lamp type Karanis B (fig.
1:3), corresponding to Barag's type 10 (fig. 1:4)13
. "Glass lamps with handles" are
based on Crowfoots and Hardens term: Bowl with straight, out-splayed sides and
three handles, type C1 (fig. 1:5), corresponding to Barag's types 12-13 (fig. 1:6) and
Hadad's type 1 (fig. 2:1)14
. "Glass lamps with a stem" are based on Crowfoot and
Hardens term: Bowl-shaped vessels on a plain, hollow stem, type B2 (fig. 2:2),
corresponding to Barag's types 4-8 (fig. 2:4) and Hadad's types 4-5 (figs. 2:3) and
Crowfoot and Hardens term: Bowl-shapes vessels on a solid, beaded stem without
base, type B1 (fig. 2:5), corresponding to Barag's types 3 and 3.1 (fig. 2:6) and
Hadad's type 2 (fig. 2:7) 15
. This latter type is thus divided into at least two sub-types:
"beaded" and "hollow".
11
C.M. Crowfoot and D.B. Harden, "Early Byzantine and later Glass Lamps", Journal of Egyptian
Archaeology, volume 17 (1931), pp. 196-208; D. Barag, Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine
Periods in Palestine, 2 volumes, Doctoral thesis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1970 (Hebrew),
volume 1, pp. 179-186, volume 2, p. 40; S. Hadad, "Glass Lamps from the Byzantine through Mamluk
Periods at Bet Shean, Israel", Journal of Glass Studies, volume 40 (1998), pp. 63-76; Y. Israeli,
Ancient Glass in the Israel Museum, The Eliahu Dobkin Collection and Other Gifts (2003), pp. 193-
194; M. O'Hea, "Glass from the 1992-93 Excavations", in: Z.T. Fiema, C. Kanellopoulos, T.
Waliszewski and R. Schick (eds.), The Petra Church (2001), pp. 370-376. 12
Ibid. Crowfoot and Harden, p. 197, pl. 28:1-3; ibid. Barag, pp. 180-181, pl. 40:1-1.2. 13
Ibid. Crowfoot and Harden, p. 197, pl. 29:17; ibid. Barag, pp. 183-184, pl. 40:10. 14
Ibid. Crowfoot and Harden, p. 199, pl. 30:40; ibid. Barag, p. 184, pl. 40:12-13; Hadad, Supra no. 11,
pp. 64-68, fig. 1:1-13. 15
Ibid. Crowfoot and Harden, p. 198, pl. 29:21-26; ibid. Barag, pp. 182-183, 40:3-8; ibid. Hadad, pp.
68-72, figs. 2:14-42, 4:46-56, 5:57-65.
8
The publications of D. Amit, R. Hachlili and M. Rautman have extensively unfolded
our knowledge of stone menoroth16
. These three dimensional seven branched lamp-
stands seemingly formed one group when it comes to use and purpose. I have found
no major work on metal fixtures and have resigned to describe them according to
appearance. My understanding of metal equipment is based on the publication of U.
Zevulun and Y. Olenik concerning vessels used in the Talmudic period17
. The break
through concerning ceramic wick-holders used with glass lamps came with the
publication from Caesarea by M. Peleg and R. Reich (fig. 3:1)18
.
1.2.2 Artistic renditions
The use of menoroth is shown on the mosaic floors of several synagogues (figs. 19:1-
3)19
. Whether the depictions reflect synagogue practices or are symbols harking back
to the Jerusalem Temple, does the depictions reflect lamps know at the time and
found at ancient synagogues and churches20
. This holds true for lit lamps situated on
top of the menorah branches, and for lamps suspended from menoroth and from the
architectural facades between the lamp-stands on the depictions. These depictions
thus serve to indicate lamp types that might have been present at ancient synagogues,
but are hard to prove the presence of due to the fragmentary state of the glass remains
16
Hachlili, supra no. 7, pp. 238, 251; Hachlili, supra no. 8; D. Amit, The synagogues of Hurbat Maon
and Hurbat Anim and the Jewish Settlement in Southern Hebron Hills, Ph D thesis, Hebrew University
of Jerusalem (2003), pp. 89-97(Hebrew); D. Amit, "Menorah Fragment from Khirbet ed-Duheisha", in:
M. Fisher and I. Taxel, Rural Settlements in the Vicinity of Yavneh in the Byzantine Period: A Religio-
Archaeological Perspective, BASOR 350 (2008), pp. 7-35; M. Rautman, "Two Menorahs from the
Synagogue at Sardis", Qadmoniot, Volume 139, No. 53 (2010), pp. 44-48 (Hebrew). 17
U. Zevulun and Y. Olenik, Function and Design in the Talmudic period (1979), pp. 76-83 (Hebrew). 18
M. Peleg, and R. Reich, "Excavations of a Segment of the Byzantine City Wall if Caesarea
Maritima", Atiqot 21 (1992), pp. 158-160, fig. 21. 19
See chapter 3. 20
Hachlili, supra no. 8, pp. 179-186, 227-229; Z. Safrai, supra no. 10, p. 23; Z. Weiss, The Sepphoris
Synagogue: Deciphering an Ancient Message through its Archaeological and Socio-Historical
Contexts (2005), pp. 70-77, 235-239.
9
at the sites. I have due to this fragmentary state of glass finds not included in this
work, glass fragments that not specifically and with certainty are rendered as the
remains of glass lamps. This category includes goblet stems and tall, ring bases, as
well as kick-in bases that all could be fragments of lamps but are catalogued as
fragments of other types of glass vessels.
1.2.3. Dispersion in the structures
I will aim to detect where in the synagogue structures the illumination vessels were
found. The dispersion on the floor of a synagogue hall would thus suggest that the
vessels were found below where they once hung. Concentrations in the hall would
suggest areas of increased illumination, i.e. focal areas, as the podium here called
bemah or bemoth in plural, where the attention of the congregation was directed
during service. Concentration in closed areas would suggest areas of storage. Thus
might concentrations of finds in permanently closed areas suggest internment,
whether intentional or as a fill. While large amounts of vessels in side rooms might
indicate that they were stored there as part of the normal practice, i.e. set aside in
store-rooms before and after use.
1.2.4. Literary sources
The compilation of the Mishna in the Tannaic Period of the 2nd
century, mainly pre-
date the synagogues and the finds in them21
. The earliest synagogues in this work
dates to the 3rd
century, which is before the compilation of the Jerusalem Talmud by
21
D. Kraemer, "The Mishna", in: S.T. Katz (ed.), The Cambridge History of Judaism, Vol. 4: The Late
Roman-Rabbinic Period (2006), p. 229.
10
the end of the 4th
, while the compilation of the Tosefta is rather uncertain and ranges
from the middle of the 3rd
century into the Babylonian Gaonic Period when additions
probably were made22
. The bulk of the synagogues dealt with in this work does
however post-date these works and later sources as Leviticus Rabbah and Canticles
Rabbah (Midrash on Song of Songs) believed to origin in Eretz Israel in the 5th
century and the end of the 8th
century respectively, seems more appropriate to use to
reveal topics concerning the illumination of the synagogues of the Byzantine era23
.
This also holds true for early passages from the Kairo Genizah. Epigraphic evidence
as inscriptions on lamps and on other inventory, as chancel screens might also throw
light on subjects concerning illumination in the synagogue.
It should, however, be noted that events and practices mentioned in these sources does
not necessarily reflect the whole community in the land or the congregation of a
specific synagogue24
. The sources often reflects different opinions and do not claim to
be all embracing towards the whole community. These sources are though the closest
we can get to a contemporary understanding of the finds from the ancient synagogues
and will in this work thus be used extensively. The use of Christian sources, written in
the Byzantine era should neither be underestimated. The illumination equipment
found in Byzantine churches does show strong similarities to equipment found in
synagogues25
. Moreover, several synagogues do display architecture reminiscent of
22
For synagogues see chapter 2; L. Moscovitz, "The Formation and character of the Jerusalem
Talmud", in: S.T. Katz (ed.) The Cambridge History of Judaism, Vol. 4: The Late Roman-Rabbinic
Period (2006), p. 663; O. Mandel, "The Tosefta", in: S.T. Katz (ed.) The Cambridge History of
Judaism, Vol. 4: The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period (2006), pp. 320-321. 23
H. L. Strack, and G. Stemberger, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, Translated and edited by
M. Bockmuehl, Second Edition (1996), pp. 290-291, 315. 24
Levine, supra no. 2, pp. 468-476. 25
See chapter 3.
11
basilical churches26
. The likeness is striking both concerning art and architecture, and
it seems one congregation borrowed elements from the other. The question is to what
extent the borrowing went. Did it stop with art and architecture or was rituals adopted
or reinterpreted as well?
1.3. Aims of research
My intension with this work is to uncover which kinds of lighting equipment were
used in the Synagogues of the Byzantine Era. I will detect where in the structures the
equipment was uncovered and in what situation, i.e. alone, in heaps or under floors
etc. By this I intend to come to a conclusion how the equipment functioned in the
synagogues. To get to this conclusion I will use examples from excavated churches in
the area as these show architectural similarities to the synagogues. I will also use
Rabbinical texts and Christian texts of the period to throw light on names used for the
illumination vessels and how they were used as well as symbolical connotations
implied.
26
L. Habas, "The bema and Chancel Screen in Synagogues and Their Origin", in: L.I. Levine and Z.
Weiss (eds), From Dura to Sepphoris, Studies in Jewish Art and Society in Late Antiquity (2000), pp.
111-130; R. Talgam, "Similarities and Differences between Synagogues and Church Mosaics in
Palestine during the Byzantine and Umayyad Periods", in: L.I. Levine and Z. Weiss (eds). From Dura
to Sepphoris, Studies in Jewish Art and Society in Late Antiquity (2000), pp. 93-110; Y. Tsafrir, "The
Byzantine Setting and its Influence on Ancient Synagogues", In: L.I. Levine (ed.), The Synagogue in
Late Antiquity (1987), pp. 150-152.
12
2. Synagogues with illumination vessels
Meroth
The synagogue was built by the beginning of the 5th
century; however, major changes
were made to the structure at the end of the same century27
. A fragment of the central
branch of a limestone menorah (fig. 3:2) was unearthed in a corner of the synagogue
hall, attesting to the use of such a lamp in the synagogue28
. A vaulted room in the
south-western corner of the hall was found with a large concentration of glass and
ceramic lamps29
. This indicates the function of the room as a storeroom for the
synagogue, as do the coins found in a treasury beneath its floor. Judging by the date
on the most recent coin from the treasury, the synagogue, or at least the treasury, was
abandoned after 119330
.
In the middle of the 7th
century, another hall was built in the synagogues courtyard31
.
Bronze chains and glass lamps, including their stems, were recovered from above the
floor in the room. This indicates that a polycandelon illuminated it. The excavations at
Meroth yielded metal chains and rings, glass lamps with handles and glass lamps with
a stem32
. Some of the latter had hollow stems while others had beaded stems. All
attesting to the types of lamps used in the synagogue and the area around it.
27
Z. Ilan and E. Damati, Meroth: The Ancient Jewish Village (1987), pp. 43-71 (Hebrew); Z. Ilan, "The
Synagogue and Beth Midrash of Meroth", in: R. Hachlili (ed.), Ancient Synagogues in Israel Third –
Seventh century C.E, Bar international series 499 (1989), pp. 21-41. 28
Ibid. p. 50. 29
Ibid. pp. 66-68. 30
Ibid. pp. 66. 31
Ibid. pp. 43 and 72-87. 32
Ibid. pp. 144-148, illustrated vessels are not assigned to specific areas.
13
Gush Halav
According to the excavators, the synagogue was built by the middle of the 3rd
century,
and after four phases of use, it was deserted by the middle of the 6th
century33
. These
dates have been questioned and it is possible that only the last two phases actually
belong to the synagogue's lifespan, thus dating it to the 5th
through the 7th
centuries34
.
The only remaining floor of the synagogue belonging to the third phase should either
be dated to the middle of the 4th
or the 5th
century35
. Glass and ceramic lamps were
found in the hall, the latter datable to the period between the 5th
and 8th
centuries36
. A
bronze wall holder for glass lamps with a stem (fig. 4:1) was found between the
stones of the bemah in the synagogue hall37
. The spot also yielded bronze and iron
hooks as well as glass fragments. Whether the finds were used on the bemah or on its
predecessor is not clear.
An adjoining long side room seems to have been dedicated to the storage or interment
of equipment used in the synagogue, as it was rich in artifacts and included a
treasure38
. This room had at least three subsequent floors, but the artifacts are ascribed
to the two last phases in the use of the synagogue. The early phase, i.e. phase three,
should be dated from 363 to 460 CE or the 5th
century39
. Several bronze and iron rings
and a bronze chain including a hook and a long flat member were all assigned to the
33
E. M. Meyers, C.L. Meyer and J.F. Strange, Excavations at the Ancient Synagogue of Gush Halav
(1990), pp. 43-54, 74-97. 34
E. Netzer, "Review of the Synagogues at Gush Halav and Khirbet Shema", Eretz-Israel 25 (1996),
pp. 450-451 (Hebrew); J. Magness, "The Question of the Synagogue; the Problem of Typology" and
"A Response to Eric M. Meyers and James F. Strange", in: Avery-Peck, A. J. and Neusner, J. (eds.),
Judaism in Late Antiquity, 3, 4 (2001), pp. 27-33. 35
Meyers, Meyer and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 42, 74-79. 36
Ibid. glass: pp. 120, 251-285, ceramic lamps: pp. 128-130, 160-165, lamp pl. B:2 and D:5. 37
Ibid. pp. 123-126, 150-151, object pl. A: 7. 38
Ibid. pp. 43-53. 39
Ibid. pp. 7-13.
14
hanging of glass lamps of that period (fig. 4:2)40
. The latter were of the type with
handles. Several ceramic lamps were also unearthed; some of them with multiple
nozzles (fig. 3:3)41
. It was suggested by the excavators that four ceramic bowls were
used as lamps (fig. 3:4), though nothing at the site suggests such a use42
. Another
interesting find was an iron tongs (fig. 4.4)43
. Such tools were used to trim lamp
wicks44
.
The second layer, i.e. phase four, is to be dated from 460 to 551 CE or until the turn
of the 8th
century45
. It yielded a bronze hoop (fig. 4:3) that may have belonged to a
lamp holder, as well as fragments of glass lamps with handles and ceramic lamps (fig.
3:5) from the 6th
or the 7th
century46
.
Nabratein
The synagogue was, according to its excavators constructed in the middle of the 2nd
century47
. It was expanded and given a new floor and bemoth, in the mid-3rd
century48
. The presence of glass lamps with a handle (fig. 4:6) at this stage would
seem to indicate a later date of construction49
. The bemoth were heightened in the 4th
40
Ibid. pp. 123-126, 150-155, object pl. A: 6, C: 1-2. 41
Ibid. pp. 128-130, 160-165, lamp pl. B: 6, 9, 11,16, C: 2-7, 12-13, D:3. 42
Ibid. pp. 128-130, 162-163, lamp pl. C: 16-19. 43
Ibid. pp.123-126, 150-151, object pl. A: 5. 44
Zevulun and Olenik, supra no. 17, pp. 76-77. 45
Meyers, Meyer and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 7-13. 46
Ibid. metal: pp. 123-126, 152-153, object pl. B: 3, glass: p.120 and 251-285, ceramic lamps, pp.128-
130, 164-165, lamp pl. D:4, 6-7. 47
E. M. Meyers and C. L. Meyers, Excavations at Ancient Nabratein: Synagogue and Environs (2009),
pp. 26-32, 35-43; S. Loffreda, "Review of Ancient Synagogue Excavations at Khirbet Shema, Upper
Galilee, Israel,1970-1972", BASOR 244 (1981), pp. 75-79; Magness, supra no. 34, pp. 1-18; Netzer,
supra no. 35, pp. 453-454. 48
Meyers and Meyers, ibid. pp. 26-32, 44-62. 49
Ibid. pp. 311, 329, 331, 440, pl. H:3, I:2.
15
century and architectural elements included in their fills50
. One of these was a
fragment of a triangular pediment flanked by two lions (fig. 5:3)51
. At the center of
the pediment was a semi-circular conch. The upper rim of the conch was perforated;
facilitating the suspension of some kind of object. The object was a lamp, according
to the excavators. The synagogue is believed to have been abandoned after the earth
quake of 363 CE52
.
A new synagogue was in 564 CE constructed on a high fill above the former
synagogue53
. The synagogue went according to its excavators out of use by 700 CE,
though Magness opts for a later date in the 8th
century according to ceramics and
coins uncovered54
. One of the fragments, of a black ceramic bowl is to be dated to the
8th
or 9th
century55
. The bowl was decorated by incisions; one of the depictions
resembles a torah shrine with an object hanging from its gable (fig. 5:4). This shard
was not unearthed in the synagogue and it dates at least to 500 years later than the
stone fragment. No connection can thus be drawn between them.
Several types of glass lamps with hollow stems were unearthed in the late synagogue
(fig. 5:1)56
. Glass lamps were not found in the domestic areas excavated at the site;
thus indicating that they should be connected with public areas57
.
50
Ibid. pp. 51-53. 51
Ibid. pp. 84-86, photo 26, fig. 27. 52
Ibid. p. 61. 53
Ibid. pp. 63-67. 54
J. Magness, "The Dating of the Black Ceramic Bowl with a Depiction of the Torah Shrine from
Nabratein", LEVANT XXVI (1994), pp. 199-206. 55
Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 144-149, photos 44-47. 56
Ibid. pp. 312, 339, pl. M:1-4. 57
Ibid. pp. 313-314.
16
The ceramic lamps found in the synagogues are of local types and span the periods
the halls were in use (fig. 4:5)58
. None of the lamps were found in their primary
context. The same holds for a bronze lamp filler that was found outside the walls of
the last hall (fig. 5:2)59
.
Khirbet Shema
The synagogue was built in 284 CE, reconstructed in 306 CE, and destroyed in an
earthquake in 419 CE60
. Many scholars have questioned those dates for it seems
possible that it was built later in the 4th
century and abandoned far later than 419 CE61
.
At least five ceramic lamps (fig. 5:5) from the 3rd
through 6th
centuries, and large
amounts of glass, were found in the synagogue62
. At least one of the glass lamps was
of the type with a hollow stem (fig. 5:6)63
. Some handles at the site might have
belonged to lamps with hemispherical bodies (fig. 5:6)64
. A high concentration of
glass fragments appears in the hall well above floor level in the vicinity of a gallery65
.
The gallery was constructed above a small room believed to have been for some kind
of storage. It seems that by the time the synagogue was abandoned, a fair amount of
the glass had been collected and stored. Only later, when the extra space was needed,
was the glass cleared out, ether from the small room or the gallery. The earliest time
58
Ibid. pp. 261-265, 280, pl. B:11 found reasonably close to floor. 59
Ibid. 344-346, photo 56, p. 346. 60
E. M. Meyers, A.T. Kraabel and J.F. Strange, Ancient Synagogue Excavations at Khirbet Shema,
Upper Galilee, Israel 1970-1972, (1976). 61
Netzer, supra no. 34, pp. 453-454; Loffreda, supra no. 47, pp. 75-79; J. Magness, "Synagogue
Typology and Earthquake Chronology at Khirbet Shema, Israel", Journal of Field Archaeology 24
(1997), pp. 211-220. 62
Meyers, Kraabel and Strange, supra no. 60, pp. 243-256, pls. 8:9.7, 10 and 8:10.5-6, 9 and 8:11.6, 8. 63
Ibid. p. 245, pl. 8:7.30. 64
Ibid. p. 245, pl. 8:8.14-15. 65
Ibid. pp. 245-247.
17
possible of that event might be dated by a 7th
century ceramic lamp uncovered in the
vicinity of the glass (fig. 5:7)66
. Another area with a considerable amount of glass was
uncovered above the bemah67
. This might indicate the use of glass lamps there, i.e. at
the focal area of the hall.
Kfar Hannaniah
According to an inscription on the polycandelon (fig. 6:1) found at Kefar Macher, it
once belonged to the synagogue of Kfar Hannaniah68
. The polycandelon was made of
a flat bronze ring with twelve holes for the stems of glass lamps (fig. 6:2). Three
chains attached to the ring were gathered into a three-armed ornamental link which
was connected to a hook for suspension from the ceiling.
The underside of the ring was decorated with an inscription. The text reads: "this
kelila….to the holy place of Kefar Hananyah….may they be remembered for good.
Ame(n) selah, shalom, ptp t"69
. The word kelila is an Aramaic word meaning crown
or wreath and appears to be etymologically related to the Latin word fara coronata
(meaning crown lamps) and the Greek stephanos (meaning crown or wreath), both of
which describe types of polycandela70
. Kelila may, therefore, have been the local
name for a polycandelon.
66
Ibid. pp. 243-256, pl. 8:10.10. 67
Ibid, pp. 245-247. 68
J. Naveh, On Stone and Mosaic, the Aramaic and Hebrew Inscriptions from Ancient Synagogues
(1978), pp. 34-36 (Hebrew). 69
Fine, supra no. 9, p. 102. 70
D. Montserrat, "Early Byzantine Church Lighting: A New Text", Orientalia 64, 4 (1995), p. 442.
18
Khirbet Wadi Hamam
The synagogue was constructed in the late 3rd
or early 4th
century, and probably
destroyed in an earth quake in the late 4th
or early 5th
century71
. Found in the
destruction layer was the remains of a lamp hanger (fig. 6:3)72
. It contained three
chains of s-shaped links and long, flat links connected by a brass plate in the shape of
a menorah. Two of the chain hooks were still attached to glass handles. The handles
were attached to the body of a hemispherical glass lamp with a slightly out-splaying
clear-cut rim (fig. 6:4)73
.
Hammath Tiberias North
The synagogue was built in the 3rd
century with a basalt stone floor74
. In the second
phase, dated to the 4th
or 5th
century, a mosaic floor was laid in the hall75
. Ceramic
lamps and glass fragments were found both in the hall and in its narthex76
. The hall
had several layers of marble floors which were added later77
. These belonged to the
third phase of the synagogue, beginning in the Early Muslim Period and ending by the
middle of the 8th
century78
. The structure was in use, though not necessary as a
synagogue, until the 10th
or 11th
century79
.
71
U. Leibner, "Excavations at Khirbet Wadi Hamam (Lower Galilee): the synagogue and the
settlement", Journal of Roman Archaeology 23 (2010), pp. 232, 235. 72
Ibid. pp. 230, 232, fig. 9 on p. 232. 73
Leibner, U. "Khirbet Wadi Hamam: Village and Synagogue from the Roman Period in the Galilee",
Qadmoniot 139 (2010), (Hebrew), p. 39. 74
Slouschz, supra no. 5, pp. 5-39; E. Oren, "Tiberias", IEJ 21 (1971), pp. 234-235. 75
Oren, ibid. p.235. 76
Ibid. p. 235. 77
Ibid. p. 235. 78
Ibid. p. 235. 79
Slouschz, supra no. 5, p. 31 and Oren, ibid. 235.
19
Underneath one of the floors in the synagogue hall, a hard limestone block with a
carved relief was unearthed (fig. 7:1)80
. The stone features a seven-branched menorah
with branches of alternating pomegranates and flower-like cups. Above the branches
rests a smooth bar with originally seven, now remaining six, broad and shallow
receptacles on its top side. The holes served as receptacles for lamps, thus indicating
that the menorah was used for illumination in the synagogue.
The menorah was by Dotan believed to date to the 3rd
century and thus was
presumably found underneath the mosaic floor81
. Hachlili opts for the 4th
century,
though the text from the publication only states that it was discovered underneath a
stone floor82
. It seems impossible to come to a conclusion on under which floor in was
found, thus it also improbable to date the menorah according to these floors; what
remains is to conclude that the menorah is to be dated to the Byzantine Period.
Hammath Tiberias II and I
Two synagogues, one above the other, were discovered at the site. The first of them
was constructed in the 3rd
century, and after changes continued until the first quarter
of the 5th
century83
. Among its late features was a square apse at the culmination of
the mosaic floored hall84
. In the elevated floor of the apse was a deep, rectangular
receptacle. Most of the finds from the synagogue were unearthed there; among them
80
Slouschz, supra no. 5, pp. 32-33, pl. XIV; Hachlili, supra no. 7, pp. 238, 251 and plate 54 a and b. 81
M. Dotan, "Hammath-Tiberias", in: E. Stern The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations
in the Holy Land, pp. 574-577. 82
Hachlili, supra no. 7, pp. 238, 251 and plate 54 a and b. 83
M. Dotan, Hammath Tiberias, Early Synagogues and the Hellenistic and Roman Remains (1983), pp.
66-67. 84
Ibid. pp. 27-31.
20
were many broken ceramic lamps (fig. 7:2)85
. One of the lamps was decorated with a
menorah; other lamps had multiple nozzles. Iron and bronze hooks were unearthed in
the receptacle as well (fig. 7:3)86
. In addition, a ceramic wick holder was found at an
unattested spot (fig. 7:4)87
.
The excavator believed that the receptacle was the synagogue's treasury and storage
of valuable objects, but as the lamps gave the appearance as having been "trodden
underfoot"; it is possible that it functioned as a repository for equipment gone out of
use, though it is equally possible that the content are the remains of a clearing of the
premises before the reconstruction of the Synagogue88
.
The second structure, constructed as a basilical church, was erected in the middle of
the 5th
century89
. After changes in the middle of the 7th
century, the building was
destroyed in the 8th
century. The room west of the apse had a stepped receptacle in its
floor90
. In later years, apparently after the hall lost its roofing, several architectural
fragments were stored in the room91
. It is thus not unreasonable to posit that the rich
finds in the receptacle also dates to this late activity. The ceramic lamps (fig. 8:1)
found at the site dates to the 8th
century; the last days of the synagogue92
. Most lamps
were unearthed in the room west of apse and many in the receptacle there. They were
also found in the apse and in the room to the east of the apse. It appears that no
85
Ibid. pp. 31, 62-64, fig. 5: A-O, on p. 65. 86
Ibid. p. 66, fig. 4: X on p. 63. 87
Ibid. p. 66, fig. 4: V, on p. 63, though mentioned as a pottery spindle whorl, its drawing clearly
shows a wick holder. 88
Ibid. pp. 31 and 63. 89
M. Dotan, Hammath Tiberias, Volume II: Late Synagogues (2000), pp. 12, 37 and 93-94. 90
Ibid. p. 25. 91
Ibid. p. 37. 92
Ibid. pp. 75-83, 127, figs. 18-21:1-32.
21
ceramic lamps were found in the hall of the building, but rather only in rooms used
for service and storage.
A large number of glass lamps were found among the artifacts in the receptacle93
.
Most of the glass lamps with a stem (fig. 9:1) were unearthed there, likely stored or
interred, as they would have been used to illuminate the hall of the synagogue rather
than the small side room. The lamps are of the late type, with narrow, half hollow
stems and pinched at the end94
.
Glass lamps with handles (fig. 9:2), some with glass wick-tubes were stored in the
receptacle as well, others were unearthed in smaller rooms of the complex95
. These
latter lamps thus seem to have been used for a wider range of purposes. What seem to
have been eleven ceramic wick-holders (fig. 9:3) were unearthed both at the
receptacle, the apse and other side rooms96
.The ceramic cones where hollow with
central holes, and some were decorated with a radiating pattern on the outside. Most
of them were found in the vicinity of glass lamps, thus suggesting that the wick-
holders might have been used together with the glass lamps.
Sepphoris
The synagogue was built in the beginning of the 5th
century, and damaged by fire and
eventually went out of use at the beginning of the 7th
century or a little later97
. A
bronze polycandelon (fig. 10:3), believed to have belonged in the synagogue, was
93
Ibid. pp. 84, 120-121 94
Ibid. pp. 120, figs. 22-23:1-22, on pp. 85-86. 95
Ibid. pp. 120, fig. 23, on p. 86. 96
Ibid. pp. 84, 88 and 90, fig. 25:44-50, on p. 88. 97
Weiss, supra no. 20, pp. XIII, 7-30, 37-39.
22
unearthed outside the synagogue walls, but not far from the bemah of the hall98
. It was
made in the shape of a flat, perforated disc with places for six glass lamps with a
stem. Three rings in the disc connected it to chains that were gathered in a hoop and
hook on the top. The chains were made of S-shaped links and long, flat links. The
polycandelon was destroyed in fire and lumps of glass were still attached to it where
the glass lamps once stood. In the hall of the building the only illumination equipment
found were fragments of a glass lamp with handles (fig. 10:2) and two shards of
ceramic lamps (fig. 10:1)99
.
Sumaqa
The synagogue was constructed in the third century100
. One of its foundation walls
was embedded in a cave that yielded rich finds, including fragments of glass lamps
with handles (fig. 10:5), ceramic lamps (fig. 10:4) and coins101
. These and the other
finds might indicate a possible treasury or the interment of equipment from the
synagogue when it was destroyed in fire by the turn of the 5th
century102
.
Later that century, the remains of the synagogue were torn down and a much smaller
hall was constructed, presumably for use as a synagogue103
. Parts of the earlier hall
98
Ibid. p. 302, figs.1-3, on p. 303. 99
Ibid. ceramic: pp. 300-301, pl. E.I: 1, 3, Glass: pp. 295-298, pl. D.I:5, on p. 296. 100
S.Dar, Sumaqa: A Roman and Byzantine Jewish Village on Mount Carmel, Israel, B.A.R.
International Series 815 (1999), pp. 17-34. 101
Ibid. pp. 23, 134-135; S. Kingsley, "The Sumaqa Pottery Assemblage: Classification and
Quantification", in: S. Dar (ed.), Sumaqa: A Roman and Byzantine Jewish Village on Mount Carmel,
Israel,B.A.R. International Series 815 ( 1999), pp. 284, 302, 315, figs. 14:13, 23; G. Lehrer Jacobson,
"The Glass vessels from Horvat Sumaqa", in: S. Dar (ed.), Sumaqa: A Roman and Byzantine Jewish
Village on Mount Carmel, Israel,B.A.R. International Series 815 ( 1999), p. 340, fig. 1:8. 102
Dar, supra no. 100, pp. 31-32. 103
Ibid. p. 32.
23
were converted into living areas. The complex was abandoned by the beginning of the
7th
century104
.
The remains of a bronze hanger (fig. 10:7) for the suspension of glass lamps were
found between wall remains of the second phase, thus probably used in the early
synagogue105
. Its chains, which contained both S-shaped links and long, flat links,
were gathered in a hook. Two other glass lamp fragments from the complex are of
uncertain date due to inaccuracies in the published text106
. The only glass lamp with a
stem (fig. 10:6) was found in the narthex of the late phase107
. The stem was beaded.
Kafr Misr
The synagogue was built in the 3rd
century and underwent several changes during the
4th
and 5th
centuries108
. An apse was in the 5th
century built over a previous niche and
new stone slabs were laid on the bemah. A glass lamp with handles (fig. 11:2) and a
ceramic lamp (fig. 11:1) were uncovered in the fill under the slabs109
. They might
have been used in the synagogue. Rooms with entrances from outside the hall were
constructed in the last phase, on either side of the apse110
. The eastern room was rich
in finds, including the rims of glass lamps with handles (fig. 11:3) and lamps with a
stem and one bead at the base (fig. 11:3)111
. Apparently the room served for storage or
104
Ibid. p. 32. 105
Ibid. p. 29, fig. 17. 106
Ibid. pp. 23-24, 34; Lehrer, supra no. 101, pp. 334-341. 107
Ibid. pp. 335, 340, fig.2, on p. 336. 108
A. Onn, "The Ancient Synagogue at Kafr Misr", Atiqot 25 (1994), pp. 117-134.
109
Ibid. pp. 127-129, ceramic: fig. 15:9, on pp. 128-129, glass: fig, 17:1, on pp. 130-131. The latter
mentioned as gobbled rim, but features a handle, thus being a glass lamp. 110
Ibid. pp. 120-121. 111
Ibid. pp. 130 and 132, fig. 17: 2-3 (though called wine-glasses they have the out-folded rims of
glass lamps with a handle) , fig. 17: 7-9 (glass lamps with a stem).
24
interment of equipment used in the synagogue. The synagogue went out of use by the
beginning of the 7th
century112
.
Caesarea
The synagogue was built in the 4th
century, reconstructed in the middle of the 5th
century before it was destroyed in fire.113
. Only in the Early Moslem Period were the
floors mended, but probably not for sacred use. The early synagogue yielded ceramic
lamps, some of them with the depiction of seven branched menoroth114
. These lamps
were imported from the western parts of Asia Minor. Locally manufactured lamps of
the 3rd
and 4th
centuries were also discovered, some of them with multiple nozzles115
.
Imported ceramic lamps were unearthed in the 5th
century synagogue as well116
. They
came from Northern Africa and were decorated with seven-branched menoroth.
Beth Shean North
The synagogue was built in the late 4th
century, and was in use through three phases
of reconstructions and additions until the first part of the 7th
century117
. Then the
synagogue was destroyed in a fire. A considerable number of chains were unearthed
among the debris118
. Parts of the hall and the southern aisle had been disturbed, but
iron chains were unearthed in the nave of the hall, close to the apse (fig. 11:9) and
112
Ibid. p. 117. 113
M. Avi-Yona and A. Negev, "Caesarea", IEJ 13 (1963), p. 147. 114
V. Sussman, "Caesarea Illuminated by its Lamps", in: A. Raban and K. G. Holum, Caesarea
Maritima, A Retrospective after Two millennia (1996), pp. 352-353. 115
N. Avigad, "The Lamps", Beth Shearim vol. III (1976), pp. 187-189. 116
Sussman, supra no. 114, p. 356, the menorahs gamma-shaped pattern might indicate that they were
intended as palm-branches. 117
N. Zori. "The Ancient Synagogue at Beth Shean", EI 8 (1967), pp. 149-167 (Hebrew). 118
Ibid. pp. 163-164, iron: pls. 32:6; 33:2 and 5; 34:10, bronze: pl. 34:4, 8, 11.
25
close to the northern aisle (fig. 12:1). This attests to the practice of hanging glass
lamps in the hall. The chain found close to the northern aisle had a heavy duty chain
made of alternating cylindrical, twisted links and short links (fig. 12:2), attesting to
the suspension of some heavy object, presumably a grand polycandelon119
. Rings and
hooks were unearthed in the western part of the northern aisle, quite close to the
doorway of the storeroom, where a ceramic lamp was found (fig. 11:4)120
.
The finds in the storeroom were found in a heap, indicating the means of storage and
the storage function of the room at the time of the fire121
. About 196 fragments of
glass lamps with a stem (fig. 11:6) were unearthed in the room, but they were
presumably not used for the illumination of the small room122
. Seventy of the lamps
with a stem had hollow stems; the rest had beaded stems. Lamps with handles (fig.
11:5) and bases with wick tubes were found, as were several fragments of bronze
hangers with chains (fig. 11:8) containing long, flat links, S-shaped links and
hooks123
. Forty-nine ceramic wick-holders (fig. 12:3) were unearthed at the site, forty
of them in the storeroom124
. The heap in the room also included a bronze lamp handle
(fig. 11:7) shaped as a nine branched menorah with a horizontal bar and seven
receptacles125
. The two needles (fig. 12:4) that were found may have been used as
tools for the preparation of wicks126
. It is not certain whether the heap accumulated
before the fire or was gathered there after it127
. It seems however unreasonable that all
the broken glass pieces would have been brought there after the fire while the
119
Ibid. p. 163, fig. 34:11. 120
Ibid. pp. 160-161, fig. 10:7, on p. 161, pl. 33:6. 121
Ibid. pp. 151, 154-156, pl. 32:2. 122
Ibid. pp. 161-162, glass lamps with a stem: fig.11:1-3, 5, glass lamps with handles: fig. 11:9-10, on
p. 162, pl. 32:4-5. 123
Ibid. p. 163, pl. 33:7, the picture shows more than one hanger. 124
Ibid. p.161, fig. 10:4, on p. 161, pl. 32:6. 125
Ibid. p. 163, pl. 33:3. 126
Ibid. p. 163, pl. 33:5; Zevulun and Olenik, supra no. 17, pp. 76-77. 127
Ibid. pp. 154-156, 163, 167.
26
valuable metal would have been left on the floor of the hall. It thus seems that the
artifacts in the store room was stored there and fell into a heap in the event of the fire.
Maoz Hayyim
The synagogue was constructed by the end of the 3rd
century128
. The hall was repaved
and an apse was added by the beginning of the 5th
century. Several types of ceramic
lamps (fig. 12:5), including lamps with multiple nozzles, were uncovered underneath
the mosaic floor129
. The excavator believed they were used in the synagogue, but they
could have been brought in with the foundation fill of the mosaic. In the 6th
century, a
new mosaic floor was laid130
. A receptacle in the floor of the apse belonged to this
phase. In it glass lamp fragments, four ceramic lamps (fig. 12:6) and several lamp
fragments were unearthed131
. The ceramic lamps should according to the excavator be
dated to the last days of the synagogue, in the middle of the 7th
century, when it was
destroyed in fire and deserted132
. This type of ceramic lamp is however by Hadad
dated to the 8th century133
. One of the lamps bears the inscription "allah" on its
nozzle134
. This feature was by the latter believed to appear on lamps only from the end
of the 7th
century.
128
V. Tzaferis, "The Ancient Synagogue at Maoz Hayyim", IEJ 32 (1982), pp. 215-224. 129
Ibid. p. 228, fig. 11:1-2, 4, on p. 238, pl. 35: B-C. 130
Ibid. p. 221-223. 131
Ibid. p. 228, pl. 35: A. 132
Ibid. p. 244. 133
S. Hadad, The Oil Lamps from the Hebrew University Excavations at Bet Shean, Qedem Reports 4
(2002), pp. 88-95. 134
Tzaferis, supra no. 128, pl. 35: A.
27
The glass lamps found at the site belongs to the 5th
and 7th
centuries, i.e. the last phase
of the structure135
. They include both lamps with handles (fig. 11:7) and lamps with a
stem (fig.11:8). The stems of the latter vary; there are hollow stems, beaded stems and
a smooth, narrow stem similar to the pinched variety of the beaded stems. A lamp
wall holder (fig. 11:9) for lamps with a stem was also unearthed136
.
Rehov
The synagogue of the 4th
century was destroyed by fire137
. It was reconstructed in the
5th
century and destroyed in an earthquake in the 7th
century. Glass lamps with
handles as well as their bronze chains were unearthed on the floor of the late hall138
.
Jericho
The synagogue was built in the 8th
century, and was probably destroyed in the
earthquake of 749 CE. 139
. Over time, the eastern wall of the hall was washed out and
the mosaic floor adjoining it was broken. The area of the missing wall was rich in
finds. Among them were the remains of at least three bronze hangers (fig. 13:1)140
.
Two of them included long, flat links, S-shaped links and hooks; the other had long,
rod shaped links, S-shaped links and hooks. A bronze ring and a lamp filler in bronze
135
Ibid. p. 240, glass lamps with handles, fig. 12: 3-7, glass lamps with a stem, fig 12: 1-2, on p. 241,
pl. 36:B. 136
Ibid. pl. 36:B, note the slender, half-hollow leg typical of late lamps. 137
F. Vitto, "The Synagogue of Rechov", IEJ 30 (1980), pp. 214-217. 138
F. Vitto, "The Synagogue at Rehob", L.I. Levine (ed.), Ancient Synagogues Revealed (1981), pp.
92-93. 139
D.C. Baramki, "An Early Byzantine Synagogue near Tel as-Sultan, Jericho", QDAP 6 (1938), pp.
73-77. 140
Ibid. p. 75, pl. XXII.
28
were also unearthed (fig. 13:1)141
. The concentration of finds seems to have been
gathered and disposed at the spot.
Ein Gedi
The synagogue was built in the 3rd
century142
. In a second phase a niche was added to
the hall. By the second half of the 5th
century, this niche was included in an enclosed
area behind the bemah and Torah Shrine. This area, or storage area and possible
genizah, was left rich in finds when the synagogue was destroyed in the conflagration
that preceded the abandonment of the village around the end of the 6th
or beginning of
the 7th
century143
. The finds in the area of the niche and Torah Shrine included a
seven-branched menorah (fig. 13:3) in bronze144
. It measures 22 by 15 cm. Originally
it might have been 30-35 cm high, and was probably lacking fittings for lamps on its
horizontal bar. The menorah is therefore believed to have been ornamental. Glass
lamps and ceramic lamps (fig. 13:2) were also unearthed in the same area145
.
Hurbat Maon
The synagogue was constructed in the second half of the 4th
or the beginning of the 5th
century146
. By the turn of the century, a new wall had been inserted in the southern
parts of the hall, thus excluding a breach in the floor from the rest of the hall. The
141
Ibid. p. 75, pl. XXII. 142
D. Barag, Y. Porat and E. Netzer," The Synagogue at 'En-Gedi", in: L. I. Levine (ed.), Ancient
Synagogues Revealed (1981), pp. 117-123; Y. Hirschfeld , "Introduction", in: Y. Hirschfeld (ed.), Ein-
Gedi Excavations II: Final Report (1996-2002) (2007), pp. 15-20. 143
Hirschfeld, ibid. p. 16. 144
Ibid. p.18, fig. 23; Barag,Porat and Netzer, supra no. 142, p. 117, ill. on p. 117. 145
Hirschfeld, supra no. 142, p. 20, Ibid. pp. 117-118, ceramic lamp: ill. on p. 118. 146
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 89-97.
29
broken floor opened up into an abandoned ritual bath. It was filled with numerous
artifacts presumably from the synagogue, including the majority of twelve fragments
of a large marble menorah (fig. 14:6)147
. The menorah, presumed to have been 1.25
meters high, was carved with alternating spheres and bands with emerging leaves.
Adornments in the shape of lions remain on some of the fragments. The central
branch had a depression for the insertion of a base.
The fill also included the fragments of about 30 glass lamps with handles (fig.14:1),
several of which had glass wick-holders attached to their bases148
. Two handles (fig.
14:3) might have belonged to hemispherical glass lamps with the handles attached to
the body of the lamp149
. These handles were formed by vertical trails pulled up to a
loop handle and continued down the trail. About 35 lamp stems (fig. 14:2) were also
found150
. They were of the hollow type, and one featured a bead at its end. Several
types of ceramic lamps (fig. 13:4) were found in the ritual bath151
. It is not clear when
the fill entered the ritual bath, but it seems probable that it was not used as a
storeroom152
.
Several lighting devices were unearthed in the vicinity of a large paving stone, laid in
the center of the hall153
. These include a glass lamp with hollow stem, a glass lamp
with a wick holder, a ceramic wick holder, ceramic lamps and a marble menorah
147
Ibid. pp. 154-159, pl. Maon 20:1-11. 148
Ibid. pp. 109-110, glass lamps with handles, pl. Maon 3:1, 3-5, 7, glass lamp bases with cylindrical
wick-tubes, pl. Maon 3: 10-12. 149
Ibid. p. 109, pl. Maon 3: 15-16. 150
Ibid. pp. 109-110, pl. Maon 4: 1, 4-6. 151
Ibid. pp. 102, 105-108, pl. Maon 2:1-2, 4, 6-7, 9-13, 15. 152
Ibid. pp. 92-97. 153
Ibid. p. 93.
30
fragment (fig. 14:7)154
. Their presence might indicate the use of illumination at the
spot. Bronze rings of various sizes (fig. 14:4) and a bronze needle (fig. 14:5) were
unearthed in the excavations155
. The latter may have been used in the preparation of
wicks156
. The synagogue was abandoned by the beginning of the 7th
century, as no
finds dates to a later period157
.
Khirbet Susiya
The synagogue was built in the end of the 4th
or beginning of the 5th
century158
. About
ten of the marble fragments from the site originated from a three-dimensional
menorah (fig. 15:1)159
. Its branches were carved in a bead-and-reel pattern, as was its
base. It was adorned with decorative scrolls attached to its outer branches. Perforated
screen works attach the branches to each other. The cross bar above the branches
carry round disc-like receptacles, and a two line inscription (fig. 15:2)160
. The
fragment includes only a small part of the inscription. On the upper line is the end of a
word visible: [ ](b)nah. The lower line probably red: [ ] (h)oshiah. The text is
thought to be part of the prayer service of the synagogue161
. The menorah was
presumably about 65 cm broad and 60 cm high, standing on a round base162
. It is
154
Ibid. pp. 109-110, glass lamp with a stem, pl. Maon 4: 3, glass lamp with a wick holder, pl. Maon
3:9; a ceramic wick holder: pp. 104, pl. Maon 1: 38; ceramic lamp: p. 105 pl. Maon 2: 5, 8; menorah
fragment, pp. 154-159, pl. Maon 20:6. 155
Ibid. p. 113, pl. Maon 5: 5-8. 156
Zevulun and Olenik, supra no. 17, pp. 76-77. 157
Amit, supra no. 16, p. 97. 158
S. Gutman, Z. Yeivin and E. Netzer, "Excavations in the Synagogue at Horvat Susiya", in: I. L.
Levine (ed.), Ancient Synagogues Revealed, Jerusalem (1981), pp. 123-128; Z. Yeivin, Kh. Susia
(1993) pp. 15-27 (Hebrew). 159
Z. Yeivin, "Khirbet Susiya: Bema and Synagogue Ornamentation", in: R. Hachlili (ed.), Ancient
Synagogues in Israel, Thrid-Seventh Century C.E.: Proceedings of Symposium, (1989), pp. 93-98, figs.
12-13; Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 159-160. 160
Yeivin, supra no. 5, p. 209, pl. 44: D. 161
Naveh, supra no. 68, p. 124. 162
Amit, supra no. 16, p. 160.
31
possible that it was in use until the synagogue stopped functioning at the turn of the
9th
century163
.
Estemoa
The synagogue was constructed in the Byzantine period, and it was by the Umayyad
Period converted into a mosque164
. Two marble fragments (fig. 15:3) from the site
have been the subject of publication165
. One is part of a menorah of the same type as
that found in Hurbat Maon (see above)166
. The carved sphere and bands have remains
of emerging leaves with lion paws and heads leaning on the sphere. On the upper part
of the fragment is an open spouted cup with a depression in the middle, i.e. a lamp in
stone. The lamp has deposits of soot on the wick spout, thus indicating that it was lit
and that the menorah was actually used to illuminate the synagogue hall167
.
Hurbat Anim
The synagogue was built in the 4th
century168
. In the second half of the 5th
century a
new floor was laid, under which a ceramic lamp was found (fig. 15:4)169
. Later still, a
screen that closed of the bemah was added170
. By the 7th
century, the screen had been
turned into a wall, excluding the podium area from the hall. The remaining hall was
used for mundane purposes. Behind the sealed-off screen, on either side of the bemah,
163
Gutman, Yeivin and Netzer, supra no. 158, p. 128. 164
L.A. Mayer and A. Reifenberg, "The Synagogue at Eshtemo'a", Yediot 9 (1941-1942), p. 94
(Hebrew). 165
Yeivin, supra no.5 (Hebrew), p. 272, pl. 54:5. 166
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 154-159. 167
Ibid. p. 157. 168
Ibid. pp. 114-123. 169
Ibid. p. 121, pl. Anim 3:1. 170
Ibid. pp. 116-124.
32
were piles of glass which contained tens of glass lamps171
. These included both glass
lamps with handles (fig. 15:5), glass wick-tubes and glass lamps with a stem (fig.
15:6). The lamps attest to their use in the illumination around the bemah, though some
of the lamps might have been brought there when the hall was cleared for further use.
Horvat Rimmon
A synagogue was built at the site in the second half of the 3rd
century172
. It was
reconstructed about a century later, and further changes were executed by the turn of
the 6th
century. A thick layer of finds accumulated in the long, side room to the west
of the main hall during the 5th
century173
. The room seems to have been either a
storeroom or a dump for synagogue equipment. The pile yielded different types of
chains, hooks, rings and rods for the suspension of glass lamps, i.e. a polycandelon
which parts included two broad rings and chains, acanthus leaves, branches formed as
growing plants, as well as cup-shaped forms of the same execution (fig. 16:3)174
. The
latter functioned as receptacles for glass cup lamps. A wall holder with two loops (fig.
16:2) intended for glass lamps with a stem was also unearthed, as was bronze lamp
datable to the 3rd
or 4th
century (fig. 16:1)175
. The finds were covered up by the first
part of the 6th
century, according to the latest coins in the pile176
. By the turn of the 7th
century, the synagogue was rebuilt and it remained in use until after the Muslim
171
Ibid. p. 138-140, glass lamps with handles: pl. Anim 4:1-6 (the latter with cylindrical wick-holder);
glass lamps with a stem: pl. Anim 4:8-7. 172
A. Kloner, "The Synagogues of Horvat Rimmon", in: R. Hachlili (ed.), Ancient Synagogues in
Israel Third – Seventh century C.E, Bar int ser 499 (1989), pp. 43-49; A. Kloner, "The Synagogue at
Hurvat Rimon", Qadmoniot, Vol. 16, Nos. 62-63 (1983), pp. 67-68 (Hebrew). 173
Ibid. pp. 44-45 174
Ibid. p. 45; ibid (Hebrew), photo on p. 68, the reconstructed polycandelon remains unpublished, but
is on exhibit at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. 175
Ibid. (Hebrew), photo on p. 68. 176
Ibid. pp. 44-45.
33
invasion177
. Glass lamps with a stem from this last phase were found in high numbers
near a late Byzantine oven in one of the rooms of the courtyard178
. This room might
thus have been a combined service and store room.
Maon Nirim
The synagogue was built in the second half of the 5th
or in the beginning of the 6th
century179
. In the second third of the 6th
century, a new mosaic floor was laid. A
receptacle in the apse floor was found empty, but surrounded by several finds180
.
Among them were fragments of a polycandelon as well as glass lamps with hollow
stems to fit181
. Of the bronze polycandelon remained a fragment of the disk (fig.
17:1), chains with S-shaped and rod-shaped members (fig. 17:2)182
. Iron hooks and
chains were unearthed as well (fig. 17:3)183
. As were glass lamps with handles (fig.
16:6) including a glass wick holder and ceramic lamps (fig. 16:4)184
. Both, glass
lamps with handles and glass lamps with a stem as well as ceramic lamps were
unearthed in the synagogue hall (figs. 16:5-6)185
. The synagogue was in use until the
middle of the 7th
century, so the lamps were probably in use until then as well186
.
177
Ibid. pp. 46-47. 178
Ibid. p. 46. 179
O. Yogev, "The Synagogue at Ma'on – New Discoveries", Eretz-Israel 19 (1987), pp. 213-214
(Hebrew). 180
L.Y. Rahmani, "The Ancient Synagogue of Maon Nirim, B. The Small Finds and Coins", in: M.
Avi-Yonah (ed.), Bulletin of the Louis M. Rabinowitz Fund for the Exploration of Ancient Synagogues
III (1960), pp. 14-17. 181
Ibid. p. 16, fig. 9:3-4, pl. II:9 182
Ibid. p. 16, pl. II: 2, upper centre. 183
Ibid. p. 16, pl. II: 3. 184
S. Levy, "The Ancient Synagogue of Ma'on Nirim, A. Excavation Report", in: M. Avi-Yonah
(ed.), Bulletin of the Louis M. Rabinowitz Fund for the Exploration of Ancient Synagogues III (1960),
pp. 11-13, fig. 6:9-11; Rahmani, supra no. 180, p. 16-17, fig. 9: 1-2, 5. 185
Ibid, pp.11-13, fig. 6:12-13; Ibid, p. 16-17: fig. 9: 1-5. 186
Yogev, supra no. 179, p. 214.
34
3. Discussion
3.1 Lamp types attested at the sites
3.1.1 Ceramic lamps
The earliest illumination equipment attested in ancient synagogues was ceramic
lamps. These appeared at the synagogues at Gush Halav, Khirbet Shema, Hammath
Tiberias II, Kafr Misr, Caesarea, Maoz Hayyim and Hurvat Anim, all of which were
reconstructed in the 5th
century187
. Therefore, most of these lamps were discovered in
the make-up of later synagogue floors. For this reason, it is not clear whether they
were used in the pre-5th
century synagogues or were brought in with the fill.
At Gush Halav the lamps were uncovered in the debris of the early storeroom,
indicating that they were stored there as vessels intended for synagogual use188
. The
accumulation of lamps in the repository at Hammat Tiberias II further indicates that
the lamps played a functional role in the synagogue189
.
The use of ceramic lamps in synagogues continued throughout the centuries, attested
at Meroth, Gush Halav, Hammat Tiberias I, Sepphoris, Beth Shean North, Maoz
Hayyim, Ein Gedi, Hurbat Maon and Maon Nirim190
. The lamps were never found in
great quantities, except at Hammath Tiberias II, and were of types common to the
187
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 43-54, 74-97, 128-130, 160-165, pl. B-D; Meyers,
Kraabel and Strange, supra no. 60, pp. 243-256, pl. 8:9.7 and 10, 8:10.5-6 and 9, 8:11.6 and 8 ; Dotan,
supra no. 83, pp. 20-70; Onn, supra no. 108, pp. 117-134; Sussman, supra no. 114, pp. 352-356;
Avigad, supra no. 115, pp. 187-189; Tzaferis, supra no. 128, pp. 215-224; Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 89-
113, 154-159. 188
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 43-54, 128-130,160-165, pl. B-D. 189
Dotan, supra no. 83, pp. 27-31, 62-65. 190
Ilan and Damati, supra no. 27, p. 144; Meyers, Meyer and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 128-130;
Dotan, supra no. 89, pp. 75-83; Weiss, supra no. 20, pp. 300-302; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 151, 159-
161, pl.1; Tzaferis, supra no. 128, pp. 215-224; Barag, Porat and Netzer, supra no. 142, pp. 117-118;
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 105-108, pl. Maon 2; Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp. 16-17.
35
respective time period and region of each synagogue. Some of the lamps had
multiple-nozzles; others were decorated with menoroth, i.e. seven branched
candlesticks (fig. 7:2). These types of lamps were a minority among the lamps found,
thus there was no apparent preference for these specific lamps in synagogual use.
Synagogues with a number of ceramic lamps show a variety of lamp types (fig. 7:2).
Only at Hammath Tiberias I is the type choice uniform (fig. 8:1). It should however
be noted that the lamp type was dominating in its period.
3.1.2 Glass lamps
3.1.2.1. Conical Lamps
The first glass vessels that were used for illumination were tableware, i.e. cups and
bowls191
. The glass vessels were transparent, thus providing a lightening effect far
surpassing lamps made of pottery. The conical cups of the fourth century were used
both for drinking and illumination. Their sloping bodies and pointed bases could be
inserted in holders and stands. The vessels had clear-cut rims, which were sometimes
left un-worked and sharp, and therefore unfit for use as a drinking cup. The conical
cups first appeared in the second half of the 4th
century192
. The synagogue at
Hammath Tiberias has a 4th
century mosaic, depicting such glass lamps (fig. 19:1)193
.
191
Israeli, supra no.11, pp. 193-194. 192
E. M. Stern, Roman, Byzantine, and Early Medieval Glass, 10 BCE-700: Ernesto Wolf Collection
(2001), p. 267. 193
Dotan, supra no. 83, pp. 37-38.
36
3.1.2.2. Hemispherical bowls with handles on the body of the vessel
The first glass lamps made solely for the purpose of illumination probably appeared
before the middle of the 4th
century194
. They were handled bowls with hemispherical
Bodies and out-splayed rims intended to be hung by chains. The lamp from the
synagogue at Khirbet Wadi Hamam, of the 4th
and 5th
centuries, is of this
hemispherical type, with handles attached to the body of the vessel (fig. 6.4)195
.
Glass handles attached to the body of hemispherical vessels were also unearthed at
Khirbet Shema of the 5th
century (fig. 5:6) and at Hurbat Maon of the 5th
to 7th
century
(fig. 14:3)196
. The handles may have belonged to similar glass lamps.
The pediment fragment from Nabratein, assigned by the excavators to origin in the 3rd
century, had a hole for the suspension of some artifact, probably a lamp (fig. 5:3)197
.
According to the glass lamps with handles found in the 3rd
century layer, should the
layer be dated at least a century later, as only then does this kind of lamps come into
existence198
. This would make it possible for the artifact suspended from the pediment
to be a glass lamp.
194
Barag, supra no. 11, type 10, p. 183, pl. 13:10. 195
Leibner, supra no. 71, pp. 230-232. 196
Meyers, Kraabel and Strange, supra no. 60, pp. 245-247; Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 109-111, pl. 3: 15-
16. 197
Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 84-92, photo 26, fig. 27, glass lamps: p. 311, pl. H:3, I:2 and
one had a trail handle attached to the globular body J:20. 198
Ibid. p. 311, pl. H:3, I:2; Stern, supra no. 192, p. 273.
37
3.1.2.3. Glass lamp with handles
Another type of glass lamp with handles became popular in the 5th
century199
. These
lamps had cylindrical bodies that sloped outwards. Their rims were out-folded and
three handles were affixed to the rim on one end and to the body of the lamp at the
other. The bases of such lamps were generally concave, though some were rounded in
a convex shape. These lamps were also suspended by metal chains, as they were not
suited to stand independently. This type of glass lamp was attested to at the
synagogues of Gush Halav, Sumaqa and Kafr Misr of the 5th
century (figs. 10:5 and
11:2)200
.
The vast majority of the synagogues of the 5th
to 7th
century have revealed remains of
glass lamps with handles. This holds true for the sites of Sepphoris, Kafr Misr, Beit
Shean North, Maoz Hayyim, Rehov, Hurbat Maon, Hurvat Anim and Maon Nirim
(figs. 10:2, 11:3, 11:5, 12:7, 14:1, 15:5 and 16:5)201
.
The finds at some of these sites included a later variant of the type, one including
glass cylinders attached to the internal base of the lamp (figs. 11:5, 14:1, 15:5 and
16:5) 202
. This cylinder functioned as a wick holder, and is believed to have been
developed in the 5th
century203
.
199
Israeli, Supra no.11, p. 194; Hadad, supra no. 11, pp. 64-68, O'Hea, supra no. 11, p. 373. 200
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 120, 251-281; Lehrer, supra no. 101, pp. 335, fig.
1:8-10; Onn, supra no.108, pp. 126-132, fig. 17:1. 201
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 109-110, pl. 3:1-14; Onn, supra no. 108, pp. 126-132, fig,17:1-3; Weiss,
supra no. 20, pp. 297-298, pl. D.I:5; Zori, supra no. 117, pp.161-162, fig. 11:9-10; Amit, supra no.16,
p. 138, pl. 4:1-6; Vitto, supra no. 137, pp. 214-217; Vitto, supra no. 138, pp. 93-92; Tzaferis, supra no.
128, p. 240, fig. 12:3-7; Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp.16-17, fig. 9:1-2, 5. 202
Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 161-162, drawing 11:10; Amit, supra no. 16, 109-110, pl. Maon, 4:9-13 and
p. 138, pl. Anim. 4:6; Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp. 16-17, fig. 9:2. 203
Israeli, supra no. 11, p. 194; O'Hea, supra no.11, p. 373.
38
In the synagogue of Hammath Tiberias I, of the middle of the 5th
to the middle of the
8th
century, appear another type of base connected to a wick holder204
. The base here
is rather flat with a slight bend upwards before the break of the fragment (fig.9:2).
The lamp was either in the form of a straight-walled cup or of a bulging bowl with an
outward folded rim with attached handles205
. The latter style is most common at
Hammath Tiberias I and was also found at Meroth206
.
3.1.2.4. Glass lamp with a stem
The glass lamp with a hemispherical bowl and a hollow stem was also a development
of the 5th
or 6th
century207
. In synagogues it first appears at Khirbet Shema, of the
early 5th
century (5:6)208
. The fragment is smooth and hollow with a rounded base.
The sample, however, is from the lower part of a stem which could have belonged to a
conical lamp or even a glass bottle. The mid-5th
century phase at Gush Halav reveals
stems of glass lamps; their shape is, however not specified209
. The first fragments
which certainly were parts of lamps with a hollow stem were unearthed at Beit Shean
North, Maoz Hayyim, Hurbat Maon, and Maon Nirim, of the 6th
to 7th
century (figs.
11:6, 12:8, 14:2 and 16:5)210
.
204
Dotan, supra no. 89, p. 84, pl. 23:29. 205
Hadad, supra no. 11, pp. 73-74, but Hadad dates the former; type 7 only to the Abbasid period, i.e
after the middle of the 8th
century. 206
Dotan, supra no 89, p. 84, fig. 23:23-28; Ilan and Damati, supra no. 27, p. 147. 207
O'Hea, supra no. 11, p. 372. 208
Meyers, Kraabel and Strange, supra no. 60, pp. 245-247, pl. 87:30. 209
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no.33, p. 265-281. 210
Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 161-162, drawing 11:5; Tzaferis, supra no. 128, p. 240, fig.12:2; Amit, supra
no. 16, pp. 109-110, pl. 4:1-5; Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp. 16-17, fig. 9:3-4.
39
Glass lamps with a beaded stem are believed to be a later invention211
. In synagogues
they are attested at Sumaqa and Kafr Misr of the 5th
to 7th
century and at Beit Shean
North and Maoz Hayyim of the 6th
to 7th
centuries (figs. 10:6, 11:3, 11:6 and 12:8)212
.
A late version of the beaded stem type has a rather smooth thin stem with a pinch or
bead at the end, and the hollow of the cup half descending into the stem213
. This type
appears at the later sites of Meroth, Hammath Tiberias I and Maoz Hayyim (figs. 9:1
and 12:9)214
. At Maoz Hayyim, the stem appears to be more smooth and regular than
at Hammath Tiberias and Meroth of the 8th
century, where it seems to be more
uneven.
3.1.3. Metal lamps
3.1.3.1. Bronze lamps
Few bronze lamps are known from synagogues. A bronze lamp with a missing lid was
uncovered in the metal pile in a side room at Horvat Rimmon (fig. 16:1)215
. The store-
room at Beth Shean North yielded the handle of a bronze lamp (fig. 11:7)216
. The
handle was in the shape of a nine branched menorah with seven flames. A similar
lamp handle, not found in a synagogue, but still attached to its lamp is now in the
Schloessinger collection (fig. 17:4)217
. Another identical lamp, which lacks the
menorah, but has the shofar and lulav images intact, was unearthed in Beth Shean,
211
Hadad, supra no. 11, pp. 68-72; O'Hea, supra no. 11, p. 372. 212
Zori, supra no. 117, pp.161-162, drawing 11:1-3; Lehrer, supra no. 101, p. 335, fig. 2:16; Onn, supra
no. 108, p. 132, fig. 17:7-9; Tzaferis, supra no. 128, p. 240, fig. 12:1. 213
Hadad, supra no. 11, p. 68. 214
Ilan and Damati, supra no. 27, p.147; Dotan, supra no. 89, p. 84, fig. 23:1-22; Tzaferis, supra no.
128, p. 240, pl. 36:B. 215
Kloner, supra no. 172 (Hebrew), pp. 67-68. 216
Zori, supra no. 117, p. 163, pl. 33:3. 217
R. Rosenthal-Heginbottom and R. Sivan, Ancient Lamps in the Schloessinger Collection, Qedem 8
(1978), p. 160, lamp 662, dated to the 4th
through 6th
centuries.
40
however not at the synagogue (fig. 17:5)218
. The lamp had a depression in the base to
accommodate a lamp stand, or candelabra. This latter lamp was in use until the
earthquake of 749 CE. The absence of metal lamps at the sites does not indicate that
they were not used; rather, that they were not usually left in the ruins of the buildings.
The mosaic at the synagogue of Hussefa featured clay or metal lamps on top of the
depicted menorah (fig.19:3)219
. However, the presence of lamps in the illustration
does not prove that such lamps were actually in use.
3.1.3.2. Polycandela
The polycandelon from Khirbet Makker that, according to its inscription, was used in
the synagogue of Kfar Hannaniah, was executed in the shape of a flat bronze ring with
twelve holes for the accommodation of twelve glass lamps with a stem (fig. 6:2)220
.
Three rings attached to the flat ring, were connected to chains made of s-shaped links.
These chains were gathered in a three-armed ornamental link. The latter was again
connected with an s-shaped link to a hook for the suspension from a chain connected
to the ceiling.
The bronze polycandelon found at the synagogue at Sepphoris was of a smaller design
(fig. 10:3)221
. It was shaped as a flat perforated disc with six rings in it, each of which
would have held a glass lamp with a stem. Three rings on the disk were connected to
s-shaped links. These links were attached to one flat, long link each, that again were
gathered by a bronze thread to a two-sided hook. The hook was attached to yet
218
Hadad, supra no. 133, p. 137, Lamp Type 2, no. 523, dated to the 5th
through 7th
centuries. 219
N. Makhouly and M. Avi-Yona, "A sixth-century Synagogue at `Isfiya", QADP 3 (1934), pp. 118-
123. 220
Naveh, supra no. 68, pp. 34-36. 221
Weiss, supra no. 20, pp. 302-303, figs. 1, 3.
41
another hook-like thread for the suspension from a chain connected to the ceiling.
Molten remains of the glass lamps with a stem still adhered on the holes in the metal
disk upon discovery; obviously destroyed in the conflagration that caught the
synagogue in the late 6th
or early 7th
century.
The unpublished polycandelon unearthed at Horvat Rimmon was of a rather intricate
pattern with broad vertical rings suspended one above the other, and with branches
extending from the rings holding glass lamps222
. Fragments of a polycandelon was
reported at Maon Nirim, the associated photo though show only a ring for one lamp
(fig. 17:1)223
. At Gush Halav, a metal hoop was found in the debris (fig. 4:3)224
. It is
assumed that it held some sort of lamp. Its shape is not reminiscent of a polycandelon,
but rather a band sufficient to hold a glass bowl.
3.1.3.3. Chain Hangers
Suspended glass lamps with handles usually hung from chain hangers of the same
shape as the chains used for polycandela. The hanger from Khirbet Wadi Hamam was
attached by hooks to the handles of a hemispherical bowl (fig 6:3-4). Its chains were
assembled of both s-shaped links and long, flat links. The chains were gathered in a
brass plate shaped as a menorah. The plate had a hole in its upper middle; for a hook
as featured on a lamp found at the central church at Pella (fig. 17:6)225
. There the
decorative member was shaped as a cross instead of a menorah.
222
Kloner, supra no. 172, p. 45, see note 173. 223
Rahmani, supra no. 180, p. 16, pl. II:2, upper centre. 224
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 123-126, pl. B:3. 225
R.H. Smith and L.P. Day, Pella of the Decapolis 2: Final Report on the College of Wooster
Excavations in Area IX, The Civic Complex, 1979-1985 (1989), pp. 82, 115-116, fig. 32.
42
3.1.3.4. Chains
The vast majority of metal finds in synagogues that are associated with illumination
are various types of chains, worked in bronze or iron. Chain hangers for glass lamps
included as mentioned above, a hook from which three chains were suspended, each
ending in an additional hook attached either to a glass handle or to a loop on a
polycandelon (figs. 6:3-4 and 10:3). Each of these chains contained either s-shaped
members or s-shaped and long, flat members, the latter appearing only once on each
chain.
Sometimes the gathering suspension hook also had a decorative member, like the
menorah at Wadi Hamam and a three armed member from Kfar Hannania (figs. 6:3-4
and 6:2)226
. The chains at the church of Nahariya had intervals decorated with crosses
and chi-rho signs.
The earliest chain hangers were unearthed at the synagogues of Gush Halav, Khirbet
Wadi Hamam and Sumaqa of the 4th
and 5th
century (figs. 4:2, 6:3-4 and 10:7)227
.
From the 6th
and 7th
century were chain hangers attested at Kfar Hannania, Sepphoris
and Beth Shean North, the former without long members (figs. 6:2, 10:3 and 11:8)228
.
Suspension chains were also unearthed at the 8
th century synagogue of Jericho,
including a late variant with rod-like members instead of flat long ones (fig. 13:1)229
.
226
Leibner, supra no. 71, pp. 230-232, fig. 9; Naveh, supra no. 68, pp. 34-36. 227
Leibner, supra no. 71, pp. 230-232; Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 123-126, pl. A:6;
Dar, supra no. 100, p. 26, fig. 17. 228
Naveh, supra no. 68, pp. 34-36; Weiss, supra no. 20, pp. 302-303, figs. 1-3; Zori, supra no. 117, p.
163, pl. 33:7. 229
Baramki, supra no. 139, pp. 73-77.
43
Unspecified chains were also unearthed at Beit Shean North, Rehov and Maon Nirim.
These were in use until the 7th
century (figs. 11:9, 12:1-2 and 17:3)230
.
While suspension chains were found at some sites at which polycandela were also
found, at other sites they were discovered without such discs; therefore, is it uncertain
for which kind of lamps the chains from the latter synagogues were used. Only the
chains from Sepphoris and Kfar Hannaniah can with certainty be connected to
polycandela and only the chain from Wadi Hamam can with certainty be connected to
a glass lamp with handles, as the latter were still attached to the hooks by the end of
the chain231
.
3.1.3.5. Wall Holders
The glass lamps with a stem were not only used in polycandela; they were also fitted
in holders suspended from the wall232
. These holders were L-shaped flat members.
The shorter arm fit into a crevice in the wall. The end of the longer arm of the L-
shape was worked into a ring that fitted the stem of the lamp. This type of stands was
unearthed at Gush Halav and Horvat Rimmon of the 5th
century and at Maoz Hayyim
of the early 7th
century (figs. 4:1, 16:2 and 12:9)233
. The latter was made of a rod and
twisted into shape. It was found with the lamp still in its socket. The holder from
Horvat Rimmon was divided at the end and turned into two circlets for one lamp with
230
Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 163-164, pl. 34:4-5, 8, 11; Vitto, supra no. 137, pp. 92-93; Rahmani, supra
no. 180, p. 16, pl. II:2-3. 231
Weiss, supra no. 20, pp. 302-303; Naveh, supra no. 68, pp. 34-36; Leibner, supra no. 71, pp. 230-
232. 232
Y. Tsafrir, Excavations at Rehovot-in-the-Negev, Volume I: The Northern Church, Qedem 25
(1988), pp. 14-16, ill. 26. 233
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 123-126, Pl. A;7,12-13; Tzaferis, supra no. 128, p.
240, Fig. 12:2, pl. 36:B; Kloner, supra no. 172 (Hebrew), p. 68.
44
a stem each. This type of double holder was also attested at the central church at
Rehovot-in-the-Negev (fig. 17:7)234
.
3.1.3.6. Menoroth
Mosaic floors of synagogues from the period, such as Beth Alpha and Beth Shean
North, seems to depict bronze menoroth topped with lit glass lamps (figs. 21: 2-3)235
.
The only bronze menorah found at a synagogue, the one at Ein Gedi, was too small to
feature glass lamps of regular sizes (fig. 13:3)236
. It has no trace remains of devices on
its canes and is believed to have been purely decorative. Thus, no site has revealed
any remains of metal menoroth used for the illumination of synagogues. It is however
possible that stone menoroth were depicted on the mosaics. Their polychrome
appearance might have been due to the existence of painted stone menoroth.
3.1.4. Stone lamps, Menoroth
The stone lamps discovered in synagogues take the form of Seven-Branched
menoroth. They are somewhat similar to the menoroth depicted on the mosaic floors
of several synagogues, i.e. the branches are performed in patterns which represent the
knobs and flowers of the Jerusalem Temple menorah237
.
The stone-block-menorah at Hammath Tiberias North was worked in hard lime-stone.
The menorah was carved in relief with branches of pomegranates alternated with
234
Tsafrir, supra no. 232, pp. 14-16, ill. 26. 235
E.L. Sukenik, The Ancient Synagogue of Beth Alpha (1932), pp. 21-27; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 152-
154. 236
Barag, Porat and Netzer, supra no. 142, pp. 117. 237
Exodus 25: 31-40; 37: 17-24.
45
flowers that rise up to a cross bar (fig. 7:1)238
. It originally had seven receptacles,
indicating that it was actually used, though no traces of soot or accommodation for
wicks are visible. The receptacles are wide and shallow, probably facilitating lamps
with a flat or concave base. Lamps with concave bases usually have handles, un-
called for in standing lamps. The cups might have been of a sub-type of the conical
lamps, one with flat bases239
. The cups might also have been of a type similar to the
lamps with handles, just without the handles. These lamps would have had folded
rims as the lamps on the menorah mosaics at Khirbet Susiya and Maon Nirim seems
to have240
.
The three-dimensional menorah fragment discovered in the synagogue of Meroth was
also made in hard lime-stone (fig. 3:2)241
. Part of the central stem of the menorah was
carved with vertical grooves on beads alternated with reels. The bead-and-reel pattern
appears to be a reoccurring phenomenon in the execution of stone menoroth.
The marble menoroth from the Southern Hebron Mountains conform to this
decorative pattern. The menoroth from Hurbat Maon and Estemoa were both made of
Proconnesian marble. They were worked with alternating globes and reels, but with
leaves growing out of the reels (figs. 18:1)242
. They were also decorated with parallel
lions, but lacked the stabilizing crossbars according to the Estemoa fragment. Their
stability was improved by interlocking leaves. The menorah from Khirbet Susiya (fig.
18:2) did feature a cross-bar with a dedicative inscription, and was further stabilized
238
Slouschz, supra no. 5, p. 32, pl. 16. 239
Israeli, supra no. 11, pp. 193-198. 240
Gutman, Yeivin and Netzer, supra no. 158, pp. 123-128; M. Avi-Yona, "The Ancient Synagogue of
Ma'on (Nirim), E. The Mosaic Pavement", in: M. Avi-Yonah (ed.), Louis M. Rabinowitz Fund for the
Exploration of Ancient Synagogues, Bulletin III (1960), pp. 25-35, pl. VII:4. 241
Ilan and Damati, supra no. 27, p. 50. 242
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 154-159; Yeivin, supre no. 5 (Hebrew), p. 272, pl. 54:5.
46
by a perforated mace pattern somewhat similar to the panel from Horvat Koshet (fig.
18:3) near Tivon in the Galilee, where the mace was worked as an inhabited acanthus
scroll in low relief243
. The bead-and-reel pattern of the two latter menoroth had
convex beads alternating with concave beads between the reeds, giving a much more
slender appearance.
The menorah from Khirbet Susiya and a fragment of a similar menorah found at
Khirbet ed-Duheisha (fig. 18:4) close to Javne are close parallels to a menorah
attested at the synagogue of Sardis in Asia Minor (fig. 18:5)244
. At least two white
marble fragments of the Sardis menorah were unearthed. It was estimated to have
been at least 40 cm high and 60 cm wide, i.e. similar in size to the menorah from
Khirbet Susiya. All three menoroth were executed in white dolomite marble and were
so similar in execution that it is possible that they were manufactured in the same
region245
. M. Rothman suggests that they were manufactured on the island of Thasos,
in the Aegean Sea246
. The menoroth could equally well have been manufactured in
our region, as both marble carving and the execution of similar patterns on other
media are known here247
.
The menorah from Sardis is dated to the 5th
or early 6th
century. The second phase of
the synagogue at Hurbat Maon dates from the 5th
to the beginning of the 7th
century,
thus dating the menorah there to that time period. It thus appears that the three-
243
Yeivin, supra no. 159, pp. 93-98; G. Foerster, "Some Menorah Reliefs from Galilee", Israel
Explorational Journal Reader II, pp. 973-975. 244
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 7-35; Rautman, supra no. 16, pp. 44-48. 245
Common manufacture have already been suggested by R. Hachlili, whether in a common work shop
in Asia Minor or in Eretz Israel or both are based on the same patten book. Hachlili, supra no. 8, pp.
251-252. 246
Rautman, supra no. 16, pp. 44-48. 247
See menoroth on lamps and mosaics; Jewish marble carver in: L. Roth-Gerson, The Greek
Inscriptions from the Synagogues in Eretz-Israel (1987), pp. 58-60, 165-166.
47
dimensional stone menoroth might be dated to the 5th
and 6th
century. The limestone
block at Hammat Tiberias North is thought to be of the 3rd
or 4th
century. This date
seems to be too early, and demands a reevaluation of the published text of the
excavation248
. The latter was not performed according to modern scientific standards
neither was it published properly, thus making it difficult to base accurate conclusions
on the date of the menorah. The un-dated fragment from Meroth was as the menorah
from Hammath Tiberias made of limestone. As the material was local thus the
menoroth were probably of local production, too249
.
The menoroth at Hammath Tiberias North and at Khirbet Susiya featured receptacles
above the branches, indicating that they functioned as lamps250
. The fragment from
Estemoa had a bowl-shaped lamp with soot on its spout, i.e. it was used for
illuminating the synagogue.
3.1.5. Equipment
3.1.5.1. Metal
Some of the synagogue sites have also revealed artifacts connected to the use of
illumination vessels. Tongs was uncovered at the early stage at Gush Halav (fig. 4:4).
At both Beth Shean North and in Hurbat Maon, both of which were destroyed in the
7th
century, needles were unearthed (figs. 12:4 and 14:5)251
. Both tools are mentioned
in the Tosefta, as tools used to handle the wicks of oil lamps252
. Bronze lamp fillers
248
For an early date see: Dotan, supra no. 81, pp. 574-577. 249
Ilan and Damati, supra no. 27, p. 50. 250
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 157-160. 251
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 150-151, pl. A:5; Zori, supra no. 117, p. 163, pl. 33:5;
Amit, supra no. 16, p. 113, pl. 5:8. 252
Tosefta Kelim Baba Metziah, 1,8, p. 1605; Zevulun and Olenik, supra no. 17, pp. 76-77.
48
were found at Nabratein of the 6th
and 7th
centuries and Jericho of the 8th
century, and
should be connected to the filling of clay and bronze lamps at the site, as the wide
mouth of the glass lamps need no such device (figs. 5:2 and 13:1)253
.
3.1.5.2. Wick-holders
As mentioned above, glass cylinders were incorporated in glass lamps to hold wicks.
At Hammath Tiberias, Beth Shean North and Hurbat Maon another device was
attested that seems to have functioned as a wick holder: the ceramic cone (figs. 9:3,
12:3 and 14:7)254
. These cones were hollow conical disks that measured from 2 to 4
centimeters in diameter, and had 0.4-0.5 centimeter wide holes in the middle. Some
were decorated with relief lines radiating from the central hole. They should not be
confused with spindle whorls that are solid, nor with spouts, as was done at Beth
Shean North, that have a more cylindrical form and remains of having been attached
to a jug255
. Their considerable numbers at Beth Shean North discredit the possibility
that they were spouts. Forty cones were found in the storeroom alone and more
showed up in other parts of the synagogue. This indicates that they are connected to
the glass lamps that also were found in large quantities in the storeroom.
A similar conclusion was also arrived to at Caesarea Maritima, where about 30
perforated clay disks were uncovered together with about 400 glass lamps with
hollow stems256
. Peleg and Reich suggest that the cones were used as floats in the
253
Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 344-346, photo 56, p. 346; Baramki, supra no. 139, pp. 73-77. 254
Dotan, supra no. 89, pp. 84-90, fig. 25; Zori, supra no. 117, p. 161, pl. 32:6; Amit, supra no. 16, pp.
104, 107, pl. Maon, 28.4:37-38. 255
Zori, supra no. 117, p.161. 256
Peleg and Reich, supra no. 18, pp. 158-160.
49
lamps to hold and stabilize the wicks inside them. Dotan supports this suggestion and
refers to the cones he found at Hammath Tiberias as wick-holders257
.
The cones from Beth Shean North dates to the 6th
and 7th
centuries and those at
Hammat Tiberias predates the 7th
and 8th
centuries258
. One of the cones at Hurbat
Maon was, however, found beneath the first floor of the synagogue, and predates the
late 4th
century259
. Another cone was found in the early synagogue at Hammat
Tiberias, thus dating to the 5th
century260
.
3.1.6. Other lamps depicted in artistic renditions found in synagogues
Several synagogues have elaborate mosaics depicting an architectural feature
interpreted by scholars as either the depiction of the Temple in Jerusalem or of a
Torah Arch, or both261
. Such façades were usually flanked by two large seven-
branched candle-sticks, called menoroth.
The menoroth are topped by conical shaped lamps at Hammath Tiberias and at Beth
Shean North (figs. 19:1-2 and 20:1-2)262
. At Husseifa, bronze lamps (fig. 20:3) feature
on one menorah and at Beth Alpha some of the lamps are hemispherical (fig. 20:4),
while others seems to have flames protruding directly out of the crossbar263
. The latter
257
Dotan, supra no. 89, pp. 84-90. 258
Ibid., p. 37; Zori, supra no. 117, p. 161. 259
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 95, 104 and 107, pl. Maon, 28.4:37-38. 260
Though assigned as a spindle whorl, but with an illustration clearly indicating a wick holder, Dotan,
supra no. 83, p. 66, fig. 4:V, no. 25/14. 261
Weiss, supra no. 20, pp. 71-72. 262
Dotan, supra no. 83, pp. 37-38; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 152-154. 263
Makhouly and Avi-Yona, supra no. 219, pp. 118-123; Sukenik, supra no. 235, pp. 21-27.
50
image is also probable at Naaran (fig. 20:5)264
. The lamps on the menorah at
Sepphoris had a simple straight body (fig. 20:6), while the straight-body lamps at
Beth Leontis at Beth Shean (fig. 20:7), Khirbet Susiya (fig. 20:9) and Maon Nirim
(fig. 20:8) featured thickened rims265
. None of the lamps on the mosaics show stems
or handles and it is possible that the menoroth were mounted with glass cups, as is
possible for the menorah from Hammath Tiberias North266
. The receptacles of the
latter were shallow and wide, thus suitable for glass cups, i.e. vessels without a stem.
Lester indicated the presence of the handle-less, thickened rim type of lamp at
Ummayad Tiberias (fig. 21:1). She notes that the type is often missing from the lamp
category of publications also of the 6th
and 7th
century, because the excavators do not
realize the rims belonged to this type of lamps267
. The lamp features an in-folded,
hollow, flaring rim and a pushed-in base. She also notes that the lamp was similar to
the beaker lamps found at Gerasa and published by Crowfoot and Harden (fig.
21:2)268
. The type first appeared in the 6th
-7th
centuries, and it is possible that several
bottle rims from the synagogual sites originate from such lamps. Due to the
uncertainty and lack of evidence regarding their nature and use, these rims were not
included in this work.
Another lamp type depicted on mosaic floors, but not attested among the finds in
synagogues, is the goblet lamp. The mosaic at Beth Alpha, laid in the 6th
century,
264
E.L. Sukenik, "Na'aran", Ancient synagogues in Palestine and Greece (1934), pp. 28-31; P.Benoit
and L.H. Vincent, "Un sanctuaire dans la region de Jericho la synagogue de Na`arah", RB 68 (1961),
pp. 163-173. 265
Weiss, supra no. 20, pp. 68-70; D. Bahat, "A Synagogue at Beth-Shean", in: L.I.Levine (ed.),
Ancient Synagogues Revealed (1981), pp. 82-85; Gutman, Yeivin and Netzer, supra no. 158, pp. 123-
128; Avi-Yona, supra no. 240, pp. 25-35, pl. 7:4. 266
Slouschz, supra no. 5, pp. 32-33. 267
A. Lester "The Glass", in: D. Stacy (ed.), Excavations at Tiberias, 1973-1974, the Early Islamic
Periods IAA Reports 21 (2004), pp. 195-197, fig. 134. 268
Crowfoot and Harden, supra no. 11, pp. 198 and 201, plate 28:5.
51
features a hanging lamp (fig. 21:4)269
. It was suspended from the upper corner of the
pediment of an architectural structure situated between two lit menoroth; note the
similarity to the pediment from Nabratein270
. The lamp was shaped as a goblet. Its cup
seems to be ribbed, but it is also possible that the lines on it indicate that there was a
wick tube which was visible through the transparent glass. The cup was colored
yellow, the spherical leg was red and the base was grey. Inside the goblet, a red fabric
was visible, presumably representing a flame. The only parallel to a glass goblet used
as a lamp is a sample found at the church of St. Theodore at Gerasa (fig.21:3)271
. The
lamp from Gerasa was shaped as a glass lamp with handles, but did not have a wick
tube. The base of the lamp was elongated into the stem of a wine glass.
Another example of artistic expression of goblet lamps appears in the 6th
century
synagogue at Naaran (fig.21:5)272
. There, the same motif of architectural feature
flanked by lit menoroth decorated the nave mosaic. From the outer branches of the
menoroth hung tall chalices which resemble the hanging amphora on a silver paten
from Stuma, dated to the 6th
century (fig. 21:6)273
. The lamps at Naaran had wide
bases and spherical stems. Their hemispherical cups appear to be both ribbed and
transparent: the ribbings were visible on the sides and an inner cup with oil and a
flame was visible at its center. Above the bowl were white and black triangles set
below a flat ring with attached chains, resembling open-work metal. Therefore, it is
possible that a bronze hanger with an inserted glass lamp was depicted.
269
Sukenik, supra no. 235, pp. 21-27. 270
Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 84-92, photo 26, fig. 27. 271
P.V.C. Baur, "B: Other Glass Vessels", in: C.H. Kraeling (ed.), Gerasa: City of the Decapolis: An
Account Embodying the record of a Joint Excavation Conducted by Yale University and the British
School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (1929-1930), and Yale University and the American School of
Oriental research (1930-31, 1933-24), (1938), pp. 514 and 524-525, fig. 20:17. 272
Sukenik, supra no. 264, pp. 28-31. 273
V. H. Elbern, V.H., "Altar Implements and Liturgical Objects", K. Weitzmann, (ed.), Age of
Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, third to seventh century, Catalogue of the exhibition
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1979), p. 593, fig. 82.
52
Hangers of a more modest shape were scratched into the chancel screen from the
synagogue at Khirbet Susiya (fig. 21:7)274
. They, too, were depicted as hanging from
a menorah. The vessels had hemispherical ribbed bodies, a flat extending rim and a
tall ring base. No flames or oil were visible inside them; for this reason, it is uncertain
whether lamps or incense burners were depicted. The mosaic at the Church of Saint
John, built in 531 C.E. at Gerasa, seems to feature a similar hanging lamp with a ring
base (fig. 21:8)275
.
This also holds true for the depiction on the mosaic in the prayer hall at Beit Leontis
at Beth Shean (fig. 21:9)276
. From the outer right branch of the depicted menorah
hung a container, rendered in the same bronze color as the menorah. It appeared to be
cylindrical in shape, and it had a flat base with three protruding legs. The excavator
suggested it to be an incense burner. An incense burner in bronze of similar
appearance was found at the Monastery of Lady Mary at Beth Shean (fig. 22. 1)277
.
Hachlili however, grouped the container with the hanging lamps in her book about art
and archaeology in the land of Israel and did not mention incense burners278
. An
incense burner was, actually unearthed in one of the external rooms at the synagogue
at Beth Shean North (fig. 22:2)279
. I thus find it reasonable that the mosaic at Beit
Leontis depicted an incense burner.
274
Yeivin, supra no. 158, pp. 22-23 and 27. 275
M. Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan (1993), pp. 274 and 288-289. 276
Bahat, supra no. 265, pp. 82-85. 277
G.M. Fitzgerald, A Sixth Century Monastery at Beth-Shan (Scythopolis) (1939), p. 11, pl. III, fig. 2. 278
Hachlili, supra no.7, p. 260. 279
Zori, supra no. 117, p. 163, pl. 33:3.
53
The presence of hanging lamps and incense burners on depictions in synagogues does
not necessarily indicate that lamps hung from menoroth and Torah Shrines. Some of
the glass lamps and concentrations of lamps found, however, were situated in the area
of apse and bemah and Torah Shrine of the synagogues, and might have been
suspended there. Remains of lamps were however also found elsewhere in the
synagogues, thus indicating that they hung in the hall and even in side rooms.
3.2. Where the lamps were unearthed
In order to arrive at any conclusions regarding how the different kinds of lamps were
used in the synagogue, one must examine the specific locations within the complexes
in which they were unearthed. Lamp fragments found beneath floors do not tell much.
They might indicate that the lamps were in use in the previous phase of the structure,
but can equally well have been brought in by the fill used in the make-up of the floor.
Only when the lamps are found on the floor in destruction layers or in connection
with some kind of repository, either under the floor or in side-rooms, can it be
deduced with some certainty that they were used in the synagogue complex. It may
further be deduced that lamps found in permanent storage were accorded some
importance, as they were deliberately stored away; unless, that is, the concentration
was the result of a clearance of the premises before a reconstruction.
3.2.1. Interred or dumped
The only early synagogues that can claim to shed some light on whether finds were
interred or dumped are those at Hammat Tiberias II and possibly the ones at
54
Nabratein, Hammath Tiberias North and Sumaqa280
. At Nabratein and Hammath
Tiberias North stone elements were found in the bema and beneath the floor,
respectively (figs. 3:4 and 11:1). When they were buried they were already broken
and not fit for use. The question is whether the stones arrived at their destination in
the function of fill or whether they were interred because they were regarded with
some degree of importance or of holiness and had to be stored away accordingly, as
not to be disgraced in the future.
A concentration of disposed finds, including glass lamps was uncovered at Sumaqa281
.
The lamps had clearly been dumped into a crevice along a foundation wall together
with other artifacts. Whether they were cleared out of some room or deposited during
the use of the building is hard to tell, thus is it difficult to state that the lamps were
interred because they had acquired some degree of importance or holiness.
Numerous pottery lamps uncovered in the repository under the bemah at Hammath
Tiberias II (fig. 22:3)282
. These lamps were stored under the floor, in a stone
repository at the focal point of the hall, close to the presumed Torah Shrine. Such a
position can hardly be considered insignificant and their presence there appears to be
deliberate. Furthermore, the lamps were broken into pieces as if to prevent later use.
The practice of crushing and storing ceramic lamp is not known from any other
synagogue site and might reflect a local custom that could have continued well into
the 8th
century with ceramic and glass lamps used in the late synagogue at the site283
.
280
Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 84-92, photo 26, fig. 27; Slouschz, supra no. 5, pp. 32-33, pl.
14; Dotan, supra no. 83, pp. 28 and 62; Dar, supra no. 100, pp. 22-26. 281
Lehrer, supra no. 101, pp. 334-336, 340-341. 282
Dotan, supra no. 83, p. 62. 283
Dotan, supra no. 89, pp. 25, 84-86 and 120.
55
Several later sites have revealed vessels that were incorporated during reconstructions
of synagogues. At Sumaqa, an incomplete lamp hanger was incorporated in a 5th
century wall284
. At Gush Halav, a wall-hanger and hooks were incorporated in the
Bemah of the same century285
. At Hurbat Maon, an early ritual bath that caved in
under the synagogue during its use, was in the second phase filled up with debris
including ceramic lamps, glass lamps and several fragments of a marble menorah286
.
The debris also included artifacts predating the use of the synagogue; therefore, it was
difficult to conclude that any of the finds were interred rather than used as a fill to
secure the construction of the structure.
3.2.2. Storerooms or interment
The discovery of storerooms still rich in finds have enhanced our knowledge of the
lamps used in the synagogues. These rooms were often situated to the right of the
right aisle when facing the focal point of the hall, whether it was a bemah or an apse.
Meroth, Gush Halav, Khirbet Shema (without finds), Hammath Tiberias I and Beth
Shean North all conform to this pattern287
. The position of these rooms in the
synagogues parallels the diaconicon in several churches in the region, thus increasing
the possibility that they were used as storerooms288
.
284
Dar, supra no. 100, pp. 29 and 34. 285
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 124 and 150, object pl. A:7. 286
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 89-97 and 154-159. 287
Ilan, supra no. 27, pp. 21-23; Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, p. 94; Meyers, Kraabel and
Strange (without finds), supra no. 60, pp. 76-80; Dotan, supra no. 89, pp. 25 and 37-38; Zori, supra no.
117, pp. 151 and 154-156. 288
J. Mlynarczyk and M. Burdajwicz, "North-West Church (NWC) Complex", in: A. Segal (ed. et al.)
Hippos-Sussita, Fourth Season of Excavations, June-July 2003 (2003), pp. 24-33; Y. Tsafrir, Eretz
Israel from the Destruction of the Second Temple to the Muslim Conquest, Volume Two, Archaeology
and Art (1988), pp. 231, 249 (Hebrew); Tsafrir, supra no. 232, pp. 64-69.
56
In the pre-6th
century synagogue at Horvat Rimmon, a room that was probably the
storeroom was situated to the left of the focus of the hall (fig. 22:3) 289
. This is also
true for Kafr Misr (fig. 22:4) of the 5th
century, where the entrance to the room was
from outside the synagogue hall, while at Ein Gedi (fig. 22:5), the equipment was
stored behind the bemah and Torah Shrine, features added by the end of the 5th
century290
. Side storerooms and storerooms with entrance from outside the hall are
also found in churches291
.
The storeroom at Gush Halav (fig. 22:6) that functioned in the 5th
century disclosed
several artifacts sealed under the floor of the later storeroom292
. Among the finds are
ceramic lamps, glass lamps and the remains of a lamp hanger. Additional ceramic and
glass lamps were also found among the finds strewn on the later floor of the room.
Whether the artifacts on and under the floor were left there with intention, or just
abandoned there as they were broken and thus useless, is hard to tell. The pot with the
coin hoard that was left in the room when the building went out of use indicates that
valuables were actually left behind, and increases the possibility that the lamps and
chains were also left in the same manner293
.
The room left of the hall at Horvat Rimmon, where the pile of metal was found, was
not necessary a storeroom294
. The pile might have been an interred hoard or the
interment of equipment gone out of use, left there during reconstructions of the
synagogue.
289
Kloner, supra no. 172, pp. 44-46. 290
Onn, supra no. 108, p. 121; Barag, Porat and Netzer, supra no. 142, p. 117. 291
Mlynarczyk and Burdajwicz, supra no. 288, pp. 24-32; Tsafrir, supra no. 232, pp. 59-69. 292
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, p. 94. 293
Note however that the coins in the hoard were of little value when they were left behind. See:
Magness, supra no. 34, pp. 27-33. 294
Kloner, supra no. 172, pp. 44-46.
57
The storeroom at Beth Shean North (fig. 23:1) was clearly left with its contents after
the destruction of the synagogue in the 7th
century. The rich finds including ceramic
and glass lamps, both with a stem and with handles, ceramic wick-holders, a lamp
hanger and a bronze lamp handle without its lamp. The latter might indicate that the
storeroom was looted, but may just as likely have been cleared of valuables by the
congregation. In any case, is it clear that all kinds of illumination equipment were at
some point stored in the room.
The storeroom at Hammath Tiberias I (fig. 23:2) was richer in finds than the other
rooms in the building complex295
. Architectural features were collected to the room at
a late stage. Thus is it not certain that it functioned as a storeroom previous to the
destruction of the building. Additional sites, such as the church at Hippos (fig. 23:4),
of the mid-8th
century, and the one at Rehovot-in-the-Negev (fig. 23:5) that came to
its end in the 7th
century, revealed such gathering of equipment to the storerooms as
the buildings deteriorated296
.
Large hoards of glass vessels were collected in side rooms in the church at Khirbet al-
Kerak by the beginning of the 7th
century, in the parvis at the cathedral of Pella and in
the church of St. Theodore at Gerasa in the 8th
century297
. These collections do not
appear to have been destruction levels of storerooms. It have been suggested that the
hoards were collected for recycling, but they were never retrieved298
. At the cathedral
church of Pella was a large amount of glass vessels interred underneath the
295
Dotan, supra no. 89, p. 24. 296
Mlynarczyk and Burdajewicz , supra no. 288, pp. 24-32; Tsafrir, supra no. 232, pp. 64-69. 297
P. Delougas and G.C. Haines, A Byzantine Church at Khirbat al-Karak (1960), pp. 20-25, 49; Smith
and Day, supra no. 219, pp. 34-35, 50-51, 67-71, 81-94, 110-117; Baur, supra no. 271, pp. 514-515. 298
M. O'Hea, "Glassware in Late Antiquity in the Near East", in: L. Lavan, E. Zanini and A. Sarantis
(eds.), Technology in Transition A.D. 300-650, Late Antique Archaeology 4 – 2006 (2007), pp. 233-
248.
58
synthronon of the central apse while the church was still in use299
. This deliberate
prohibition of the recycling of the used glass vessels might indicate that other glass
hoards was actually stored to prohibit them from mundane uses, as suggested by
Smith and Day300
.
The glass hoard in the parvis at Pella was due to clearance of the structure after an
earthquake. Piles of finds were still present in the hall of the church, while much was
already collected to a dump room. Similarly, the collection of vessels at the church of
Shavei Zion was dumped in a well shaft, obviously not a storeroom301
. At Hammath
Tiberias I, it seems the remains were stored in the storeroom302
. The position of the
room to the right of the apse increases the possibility that it was a storeroom, as it
follows a pattern common at several synagogues and churches, as mentioned above.
At Horvat Rimmon, several glass lamp stems were found in a room in the courtyard,
suggesting that it functioned as a storeroom that went out of use with the structure in
the Muslim Period303
. The storeroom at Meroth (fig. 23:3) was, in the 12th
century,
left with numerable ceramic and glass lamps as well as a treasury underneath its
floor304
. As the stone floor was looted, is it uncertain whether the lamps found below
floor level were interred there or originally stored in the room above together with the
rest of the lamps.
299
Ibid. pp. 233-248. 300
Smith and Day, supra no. 225, p. 70. 301
M.W. Prausnitz, Excavations at Shavei Zion: the Early Christian Church (1967), pp. 39-46, 65-72. 302
Dotan, supra no. 89, p. 24. 303
Kloner, supra no. 172, p. 46. 304
Ilan, supra no. 27, p. 23.
59
3.2.3. Finds in destruction levels
Artifacts found on the floors of structures that went out of use due to earthquakes or
conflagrations give the strongest indications about where the illumination vessels
were actually used. The synagogues that come under this category are mainly those
that came to their end in 7th
century, many in the beginning of the century, and were
not resettled.
At Gush Halav ceramic and glass lamps were left on the floors of the hall and
storerooms305
. The numerous chains found at Beth Shean North were distributed on
the floor close to the apse and close to the northern aisle (the western aisle was not
preserved), attesting to the way lamps were suspended in the hall306
. Glass lamps with
handles and bronze hangers were unearthed on the floor at Rehov, while Sumaqa
yielded a beaded glass stem in the narthex307
.
A concentration of finds was detected at Hurbat Maon where remains of both handled
and stemmed glass lamps, ceramic lamps, a ceramic wick holder and menorah
fragments in marble were found on a large paving stone in the center of the hall, thus
indicating either that they were piled there after the abandonment of the structure or
left in the vicinity of some, now decayed, focal point308
.
305
Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 33, p. 94. 306
Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 163-164. 307
Vitto, supra no. 137, p. 217; Vitto, supra no. 138, pp. 93-92; Lehrer, supra no. 101, pp. 335, 341-
143. 308
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 93, 107-108, 111-112.
60
At Hurvat Anim, half the hall was cleared for later use, but the area of the bemah
remained closed off and out of use309
. Large piles of glass were left on the floor on
both sides of the bemah. This indicates that the focal area of the hall was highly
illuminated. The bronze remains of the illumination fixtures were removed, but the
broken glass fragments left.
When the synagogue at Maon Nirim went out of use, ceramic lamps, glass lamps with
a stem and glass lamps with handles were abandoned on the floors of the hall and
apse. A polycandelon fragment, chains of a lamp hanger, hooks and chains were also
abandoned in the apse310
. This indicates that the polycandelon used to hang in the area
of the apse, though the glass remains indicate that they were used in several areas of
the structure.
This interior layout is even more prominent at a church excavated at Nahariya. The
church was destroyed in a fire in the beginning of the 7th
century and left to decay311
.
Bronze chains used for the suspension of lamps and the fused remains of glass lamps
were unearthed on the floor of the hall. The chains included hooks, rings, long flat
links, s-shaped links and decorative elements as flower-like plates, crosses and chi-
rho symbols. The chains were spaced in regular intervals in five lines along the
church hall, thus attesting how the lamps were distributed in the hall before the
conflagration (fig. 22:1). The lamps included glass lamps with handles and glass
lamps with a hollow stem. The two ceramic lamps found were left unused on the floor
of the aisle, and were probably remains from the last days of use of the structure.
309
Ibid, pp. 116-117, 121 and 140. 310
Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp. 16-17. 311
C. Dauphin and G. Edelstein, "The Byzantine Church at Nahariya", in: ed. Y. Tzafrir, Ancient
Churches Reviealed (1993), pp. 49-53; C.Dauphin et G. Edelstein, L'eglis Byzantine de Nahariya
(Israel) etude archeologique (1984), pp. 99-105, 122-125.
61
The synagogue at Jericho was left following an earthquake in the 8th
century312
.
Several bronze hangers and one bronze lamp filler were left in the eastern aisle. It is
not clear whether they were collected there after the destruction or stored there from
beforehand. The concentration in which they were found decreases the possibility
that they remained where they had been used. This might also be true for the
numerous glass lamps unearthed in the receptacle in the room right of the apse at
Hammath Tiberias I313
.
The distribution of the finds at Hammath Tiberias I do, however, reveal a number of
patterns. Ceramic lamps were found in smaller side rooms, apparently used for minor
tasks. Glass lamps with handles were found both in some smaller rooms and in the
receptacle in the room to the right of the apse. The receptacle also yielded a large
number of glass lamps with a stem, thus indicating that the lamps were collected
there, as the lamps with a stem were probably used in polycandela in the hall. Such
fixtures would not have fitted the small rooms. The glass lamps with handles would
have had a wider range of uses as their distribution varied between different types of
rooms. The reason for the collection of the lamps to the repository remains unclear,
but was as mentioned above, attested also in churches.
The glass might have been cleared out of the rooms so they could be used for other
activities. The congregation might have gathered the remains, but continued to use the
structure on a smaller scale, such as was done at the North-Western Church at
Hippos314
. There, the roof of the nave caved in during an earthquake in the end of the
7th
century, while the aisles and storerooms remained in communal use until the earth
312
Baramki, supra no. 139, pp. 73-77. 313
Dotan, supra no. 89, p. 24. 314
Mlynarczyk and Burdajewicz, supra no. 288, pp. 24-32.
62
quake in year 749. Many vessels were stored in the rooms to the right of the right
aisle, among them ceramic and glass lamps and a bronze polycandelon for nine glass
lamps with a stem found leaning towards a wall315
.
The final destruction left several artifacts at the spots they were in use. A bronze lamp
shaped like a dove was found on the floor of the northern aisle (fig. 22.2)316
. A chain
of s-shaped rings runs from its head to its tail, thus indicating that it hung in front of
the altar table found in the aisle. A bronze polycandelon was unearthed below the
fallen arch in the chapel of the southern aisle (fig. 22:3)317
. It included a hook and
three chains of s-shaped links connected to a perforated disc with spaces for six glass
lamps with a stem. Two hollow stems of glass lamps were found in its vicinity. This
clearly shows how the focal areas of the churches were illuminated to draw attention
to them and enhance them.
The Northern church at Rehovot-in-the Negev, constructed in the 5th
century, yielded
an arch stone with holes for suspension (fig. 22.4)318
. The iron of the hooks or dowels
was still visible upon discovery. The stone was once part of the semi dome above the
central apse, thus indicating the suspension of a glass lamp at the spot. The lamp
functioned to illuminate the focal point of the hall: the altar. This use of illumination
is hinted to at Hurbat Maon, Hurbat Anim and Maon Nirim319
.
315
Ibid. pp. 24-32. 316
J. Mlynarczyk and M. Burdajewicz, "B. Excavation Areas", in: Hippos (Sussita) – Excavation
Project, Second Season Excavation Report – 2001,
http://hippos.haifa.ac.il/excavationReport/2001/areas.htm 317
M. Burdajewicz, "Glass Finds from the North-West Church Compex", in: A. Segal, J. Mlynarczyk
and M. Burdajewicz (eds.), Hippos - Sussita - Seventh Season of Excavations (July 2006), pp. 127-143,
fig. 2, A-C. 318
Tsafrir, supra no. 232, pp. 41-42. 319
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 93, 109-110,138-140, Rachmani, supra no. 180, pp. 15-17.
63
4. Written Sources on the Illumination of Synagogues
4.1. Sources on lamps
Rabbinic sources reveal several different names for lamps. The ner in Hebrew, shraga
in Aramaic and kandila derived from Greek should be taken as references to regular
ceramic and metal lamps320
. The different wording simply reflects influences from
different languages.
The Tosefta differentiates between ner, that is ceramic and metal lamps, and kos,
ashishit and keara, i.e. cup, ashishit and bowl which, presumably, were illumination
vessels made of glass321
. Regular tableware such as cups and bowls were thus used as
lamps. Cups are defined as round glass vessels that are higher than their diameter. The
conical shaped vessels depicted on the menoroth in the mosaic at Hammath Tiberias
are such cups. They became common in the 4th
century and often had sharp unworked
rims like the Sidonian cups mentioned in the Tosefta322
. According to that text, the
latter were wide at the rim and narrow below, unable to stand independently. The
conical glass vessels also had a subtype with a flat base323
. This type was probably
fitted in the stone menorah at Hammath Tiberias north, as the receptacles are wide
and shallow324
.
The bowl-shaped lamps are defined by having a diameter which is wider than the
vessel is high. These lamps were ordinary bowls, presumably with flaring rims and
without handles. This type of lamp was attested at Karanis, together with the conical
320
J. Brand, Ceramics in Talmudic Literature (1953), p. 337, (Hebrew). 321
Tosefta Shabbat 3:13, p. 368; Israeli, supra no. 11, pp. 193-194. 322
Tosefta Kelim Baba Batra, 7:10, p. 1654. 323
Israeli, supra no.11, pp. 193-198. 324
Personal observation of object.
64
glass lamps325
. The earliest bowl lamps found in synagogues were hemispherical
bowls with flaring rims, quite similar to the bowls from Karanis; however, these
lamps had handles attached to the body of the vessel. The lamp found at Khirbet Wadi
Hamam was of this type. According to Barag, the type already existed before the
middle of the 4th
century326
.
The third type the ashishit is difficult to assign to a specific vessel type. It’s
mentioned in the Tosefta and the Jerusalem Talmud, so it seems that the term was in
use already by the turn of the 5th
century327
. It is possible that the ashishit was a term
for the hemispherical lamp with handles attached to its body. The addition of handles
to the bowl added a new aspect to the vessel, and thus possibly also a new name. The
glass lamp with handles that became popular in the 5th
century was also denoted
ashishit. This lamp type had cup-shaped bodies, but lacked the straight-cut or in-
folded rims common in cups328
. Rather, these lamps had the out-folded rims common
to bowls. The word ashishit seems to originate from the word eshet implying
something iron wrought; thus is it possible that the word was first used to denote glass
lamps hung by chains 329
.
The third type of glass common in synagogues, the glass lamp with a stem, appeared
in the 5th330
. It seems to have functioned in much the same way as the conical lamps,
and might have replaced these. The lamps were fitted in hanging lamp stands,
325
Crowfoot and Harden, supra no. 11, p. 197. 326
Barag, supra no. 11, type 10, p. 183, pl. 13:10. 327
Tosefta Shabbath, 3:13, p. 368; Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbath, 3:6, 57c. 328
Israeli, supra no. 11, pp. 159, 193-194. 329
Jastrow, Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli, and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic
Literature, pp. 1127-1128. 330
The Tosefta and Jerusalem Talmud were by then compiled and the lamp type would thus not have
been mentioned in them, Israeli, supra no. 11, pp. 193-194, O'Hea, supra no. 11, p. 372.
65
polycandela, and on wall holders like torches. The word kelila, Aramaic for circle,
wreath or crown, was included in the inscription on the polycandelon at Kefar
Hananiya, and it is assumed to indicate that the fixture was denoted as such331
.
Another type of lamp stand mentioned in these early texts is the menorah. The
Hebrew menorah and its Aramaic equivalent, menarta, mentioned in the sources were
lamp stands, though not necessarily seven-branched. All such lamp stands found in
synagogues are of the seven-branched type, resembling the Temple menorah.
Fine believes that the Jerusalem Talmud (Amoraic) interpretation of the nivreshet
lamp that Queen Helena of Adiabene donated to the Jerusalem Temple reflects the
lamp types popular in synagogues at the time the Talmud was compiled332
. The text
includes a discussion of whether the lamp was a menarta or a konchita. The conch or
konchi in Aramaic, a word inspired by the Greek kogxe (lat concha), means shell333
.
Here it seems that the conch-shaped lamp was a hanging lamp. It is interesting to note
that a hanging lamp was sometimes suspended from a conch in the pediment of the
Torah Shrine or Ark, as at the 3rd
century synagogue hall at Nabratein, and in several
synagogue mosaics334
.
Although the connection between the text and the conch-shaped pediments in the
synagogues is not at all clear, the possible relationship is intriguing. Did the lamp get
its name from its shape or from the spot from which it was suspended? According to a
dedication plaque found between Jaffa and Gaza, but probably originating in a
331
Jastrow, supra no. 329, p. 642; Hachlili, supra no. 8, p. 268; Rahmani, supra no.180, p. 16, note 20;
Naveh, supra no. 68, pp. 34-36, no. 16. 332
Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma, 3:8, 25a; Tosefta Yoma 2:3, pp. 548-549; Fine, supra no. 9, p. 80. 333
M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (1992), p. 482. 334
Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 84-86, photo 26, fig. 27.
66
synagogue, the synagogue was furbished with a conch335
. This increases the
possibility that the conch-shaped pediment was called a conch. At any rate, it does not
seem that the term continued to be used for lamps; at least it was not transferred to the
hanging glass lamp, the ashashit.
The term menorah, on the other hand, continued to be used in the following centuries.
The production of seven-branched menoroth seems to have been restricted336
. This led
to the ruling that lampstands could be made only if they incorporated a clear
distinction from the Temple menorah. For example, by having a different number of
branches.
"Our Rabbis taught: No one make……….a menorah in place of the menorah,
but one may make (a menorah) with five, six or eight lamps. Even of other
metals you shall not make a menorah"337
.
This ruling does not appear in any sources from Eretz Israel, though several
depictions on ceramic lamps depict menoroth with varying numbers of branches.
Levine, accordingly, suggests that the ruling reflects a 2nd
century Palestinian reality,
despite the fact that the ruling is only present in the Babylonian Talmud338
. The
menorah was however also depicted with seven branches. By the 4th
and 5th
century
were several synagogues decorated with mosaics of seven-branched menoroth on the
likeness of the Temple menorah. Dotan believed that the synagogue at Hammath
Tiberias had lamp stands similar to those depicted on the mosaic in the same
335
Roth-Gerson, supra no 247, pp. 101-103. 336
The ruling being preserved only in the Babylonian Talmud, but generally thought to reflect a
Palestinian reality. 337
Babylonian Talmud, Avoda Zarah, 24 a-b, translation according to Fine, S. Fine, Art and Judaism in
the Greco-Roman World, Towards a New Jewish Archaeology (2005), p. 110. 338
Apparently a tannaic tradition B. Rosh ha-Shanah, 24 a-b, L.I. Levine, "The History and
Significance of the Menorah in Antiquity", in: L.I. Levine and Z. Weiss (eds.), From Dura to
Sepphoris: Studies in Jewish Art and Society in Late Antiquity (2000), p. 143.
67
synagogue, thus he suggests that the ban was disregarded by the beginning of the 4th
century 339
.
A closer look at the Torah text reveals that the prohibition of seven-branched
reproductions applies only to metal menoroth; moreover, the Tosefta mentions the
donation of menorah and lamp to the synagogue340
. The juxtaposition of the two in
the text indicated that although the menorah is not included in the category of regular
lamps, it is certainly a fixture intended for lighting. Therefore, it seems reasonable
that the menorah be considered a lamp-stand with lamps as was the Temple menorah,
seven branched. The fragments of marble and hard limestone menoroth found at
synagogues clearly indicate their presence and use in the synagogues341
.
4.2. How the lamps were used in Synagogues
4.2.1. Illumination
The Mishna mentions the use of lamps in synagogues as a mean of illumination after
nightfall342
.
"Where it is customary to light [lamps] on the nights of Yom Kippur, we may
light [them], where it is customary not to light [them], we may not light
[them]. But [in all places] we light [lamps] in synagogues, houses of study,
dark alleys, and for the sick."
339
Dotan, supra no. 83, p. 38. 340
Tosefta Megillah, 2:14, p. 643. 341
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 164-165. 342
Mishna Pesahim, 4.4.
68
The illumination of synagogues is also mentioned in Mishna343
.
"One may light "oil that is burned" in synagogues, in houses of study and in
dark alley-ways."
"Oil that is burned" or shemen srefa, was oil donated to the Cohen, but defiled and
thus unfit to be eaten; instead, it had to be burned. Due to the public nature of the
synagogue, this holy oil could be used to illuminate the synagogues.
The Tosefta text suggests that different types of lamps had different functions344
.
Ceramic lamps could be moved on Shabbat if their flame had gone out. As the cup,
ashishit and bowl i.e. glass lamps, could not be moved on Shabbat, neither should the
menorah be moved345
. It seems that these rulings were influenced by the different
uses these lamps had, i.e. ceramic lamps were essentially moved around and used for
private purposes, while the glass lamps were more stationary. Thus, moving them on
Shabbat would be unnecessary and unusual, while the ceramic lamps were forbidden
to move only as long as they were lit, i.e. when one could increase or diminish their
lighting time.
Leviticus Rabba and Shemot Rabba dating to the Byzantine Period, i.e. the time most
of the synagogues dealt with in this work were in use, indicates that Torah reading at
night was an esteemed activity346
. Torah reading was presumably performed in the
synagogues and study-houses where the Torah scrolls were stored, and necessitated
some kind of illumination. According to the text, it does not appear that the hall was
brightly lit by glass lamps; rather, the text suggests that individual ceramic lamps
343
Mishna Terumot, 11:10. 344
Tosefta Shabbath 3:13, p. 368. 345
Ibid. 3:14-15, pp. 368-369. 346
Leviticus Rabba 19 a (ed. Margulies), (Hebrew); Shemot Rabba, parasha 47:5 (ed. Halevi),
(Hebrew).
69
were used for the reading. It is possible that the glass lamps were generally lit during
services, and that the study mentioned was conducted by individuals at other times.
Egeria that visited the churches of Jerusalem late in the 4th
century describes how the
anastasis, the church of resurrection, was brightly lit in the lucernare-service347
. The
service took place in the afternoon before nightfall and as its name indicates was a
service where lights were lit in the churches. The bright illumination made by large
glass lamps and wax-candles came in addition to the lamp that was continually lit
behind the chancel screen at the anastasis. Egeria also reports how the anastasis was
brightly lit on Sunday mornings before daybreak, even before the first devotees
entered the church. It seems the tradition was to brightly light the church only when
the sun could not supply enough light. Only the venerated areas were continually lit.
This practice of illuminating the focal areas in churches, as altars in apsides, was
attested in churches as Rehovot-in-the-Negev and the North Western Church at
Hippos. The Nabratein pediment and depictions on synagogue floors of illuminated
Torah Shrines, indicates a similar practice in synagogues.
Fine relates how lamps were used in churches to illuminate the congregation hall to
such an extent that the worshiper was overwhelmed by a celestial feeling348
. He also
suggests that this was so in the synagogue. This kind of use of illumination is never
mentioned in rabbinic sources, nor does archaeological evidence indicate such an
overwhelming number of lamps in synagogues. Churches, as the church at Naharia,
347
J. Wilkinson, Egeria's Travels to the Holy Land (1971), pp. 123-126. 348
Fine, supra no. 337, pp. 165 and 191-192.
70
the North Western Church at Hippos and the cathedral church at Pella that all have
remnant destruction levels; show such large amounts of illumination vessels349
.
4.2.2. Lighting of lamps used as a ritual
As the bright illumination in churches symbolized a heavenly atmosphere, menorah
lamps in the synagogue reminded the worshiper of the Temple, and according to
Levine; God continued presence in the synagogue350
. The lamps hung above altars in
churches were in the synagogues paralleled by hanging lamps in front of the Torah
shrine. Their shape and placement indicate that they had a function surpassing that of
illuminating the hall during service.
A passage in the Midrash on Song of Songs indicates that votive lamps were placed
before the Torah shrine351
.
"And what did he carry out [as commanded] in the Torah? He would light one
ner (oil lamp) before the aron (ark) every morning and one every evening."
The ark mentioned here is the Ark of the Covenant which was in the Tabernacle.
According to Fine, the text probably reflects a 6th
to 7th
century practice of lighting
votive lamps in front of the Torah Shrine in synagogues352
. The votive lighting was, to
Fines opinion, influenced by contemporary Christian practices, such as the one
349
Dauphin and Edelstein, supra no. 311, pp. 49-53; Smith and Day, supra no. 225, pp. 50-52, 70-71;
Mlynarczyk and Burdajwicz, supra no. 288, pp. 24-33. 350
Levine, supra no. 2, p. 357. 351
Midrash on song of songs, 2:16 (ed. Dunesky), p. 62 (Hebrew), translation according to Levine,
supra no. 2, p. 356. 352
Fine, supra no. 9, p. 76; compiled in the 6th
century according to Strack and Stemberger, supra no.
23, p. 343.
71
witnessed by Paulinus of Nola, and culminated in the formalization of the votive
lighting, not continually lit, of the ashishit in the synagogue353
.
Levine maintains that the practice of lighting a lamp in front of the shrine was alluded
to in the earlier Tannaic midrashim354
. He states that the practice evolved into the
custom of the ner tamid, or eternal light that was continually lit in front of the Torah
Shrine. The 3rd
century pediment from Nabratein and the 8th
century black bowl
fragments from the same site were presented as evidence of the practice, as were the
mosaic floors at Beth Alpha and Beth Shean355
.
According to a Midrashic fragment found in the Kairo Genizah, lighting lamps in the
Synagogue and Study Houses had become a commandment by the Geonic period356
.
"Three sections of the Torah are prefaced by the word tzav [command]
because they had been established immediately and for all generations: the
sections on lights, sending away the impure, and the daily offering. As for the
section on lights, whether in the Temple, the Synagogues, or the academies,
Jews [lit. Israel] are obligated [to use them ritually] since synagogues and
academies are similar to the Temple, as it is written: I will be for you a lesser
sanctuary [Ezek. 11:16]".
Amit takes the text to suggest that the lighting of menoroth in synagogues developed
during the Talmudic period, the obligation to light lamps in synagogues and study
353
Fine, supra no. 9, p. 76, note 96; Fine, supra no. 337, p. 191. 354
Levine, supra no. 2, p. 356. 355
Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 84-85, photo 26, fig. 27; Sukenik, supra no. 235, pp. 21-27;
Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 152-154. 356
L. Ginzberg, Geniza Studies in Memory of Doctor Solomon Shechter, 1 vol. (1928-29), p. 77
(Hebrew), translation according to Levine, supra no. 2, pp. 356-357.
72
houses was settled by Geonic period357
. To Z. Safrai, it reveals a clear connection
between the synagogue lamp and the Temple menorah358
. However, as Fine points
out, the text does not specifically say that it was a menorah that was to be lit in the
synagogue, nor does it say that it was an eternal light in front of the Torah Shrine359
.
Nonetheless, the text does clearly connect the lighting in the synagogue to that in the
Temple in Jerusalem. The lighting of the lamps mentioned was clearly a ritual; there
would have been no need to give such a commandment to cause the congregants to
light lamps purely for illumination.
4.2.3. Donations
The Jerusalem Talmud mentions the donation of menoroth to synagogues360
. The
donation of objects to the synagogue was an accepted expression of goodwill by
individuals who wanted to contribute to the congregation361
. The inscription made by
the donor emphasized the effect made by him on the congregation 362
, and special
laws governed the behavior towards donated lamps363
.
"[if one]makes a menorah and a lamp for the synagogue, as long as the name
of the owner or donor is not forgotten, one cannot use them for another
purpose; when the name of the donor has been forgotten, one can use them for
another purpose".
This text emphasizes that objects donated to the synagogue could not be used for
another purpose as long as the donor was remembered. The Jerusalem Talmud widens
357
Amit, supra no. 16, p. 165. 358
Z. Safrai, supra no. 10, p. 23. 359
Fine, supra no. 9, pp. 84-85. 360
Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah 3:2, 74a. 361
Levine, supra no. 2, pp. 372-373. 362
Inscription on donated lamps; Tosefta Megillah 2:14, p. 643; Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah, 3:1, 74a. 363
Tosefta Megillah 2:14, p. 643, translation according to Levine, supra no. 2, p. 360.
73
the periscope and states that the lamps donated could not be used elsewhere, and if the
donor had an inscription made on the donated object it was as if he never was
forgotten364
. Therefore, the lamp could never be used elsewhere or for an alternative
purpose. The polycandelon or kelila from Kfar Makker had such an inscription, as did
possibly the marble fragment of a menorah from Khirbet Susiya. These objects were
not found in hoards or storerooms; they were probably in use until the destruction of
the synagogues, as decreed by the texts.
The donation of oil for illumination in synagogues was encouraged on the basis of the
synagogue’s connection to the Jerusalem Temple365
. The Mishna states that ritually
defiled oil, as mentioned above, could be used in synagogues and study houses366
. he
oil mentioned in the Midrashic Geniza fragment, mentioned above, show no
indication that it was shemen srefa367
. In Fine’s opinion, the author of the text
intended to support the practice of donating oil to synagogues and study houses368
.
364
Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah 3:2, 74a. 365
Mishna Terumot 11:10; and according to Fine, supra no. 9, p. 85, also, Ginzberg, supra no. 356, p.
77. 366
Mishnah Terumot, 11:10 367
Ginzberg, no. 356, p. 77; translation according to Levine, supra no.2, pp. 356-357. 368
Fine, supra no. 9, pp. 84-85.
74
5. Conclusions
5.1 Lamps and their Uses
The presented material indicates that by the 5th
and 6th
centuries synagogues, were
brightly lit edifices, though less bright then churches of the same period. Glass lamps
were by far the most common type of lamp, as their bodies did not restrict the light
emanating from the flames. Ceramic lamps were reserved for more private use, and
are far outnumbered by glass lamps in the material excavated in synagogues. As glass
lamps were much more able to illuminate the large spaces of the halls, they
minimized the need for additional illumination from ceramic lamps.
5.1.1 The Hall
Along the expanse of the synagogue hall hung several chains with suspended
lamps369
. The chains were worked in iron and bronze and were executed in different
techniques: twisted metal, s-shaped links, long and flat links, and plain rods370
. Some
chains had decorative elements: elaborate links and menorah plates371
. The latter
corresponded to crosses in chains found in churches372
. Many of the lamps suspended
from the chains were of the polycandelon or kelila type; fitted with multiple glass
lamps with a stem373
. These lamps could be called cup-lamps, as they seem to
supplant the earlier conical lamps that served both as cups and lamps. Other lamps
suspended in the synagogue hall were of the glass type with handles, presumably the
369
Dauphin et Edelstein, supra no. 311, pp. 99-105, 122-125; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 163-164. 370
Baramki, supra no. 139, pp. 73-77, 75, pl. 22; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 163-164. 371
Leibner, supra no. 71, pp. 230, 232, fig. 9 on p. 232; Naveh, supra no. 68, pp.34-36. 372
Dauphin et Edelstein, supra no. 311, pp. 99-105, 122-125; Smith and Day, supra no. 225, pp. 82,
115-116, fig. 32. 373
Naveh, supra no. 68, pp. 34-36; Weiss, supra no. 20, p. 302, figs.1-3, on p. 303.
75
ashishit lamp, though these were more commonly found in smaller spaces, such as
side rooms, and in focal areas374
. This would presumably also be the case with wall
holders which accommodated lamps with a stem, though too few have been found to
give a clear indication of their distribution in the structures375
.
5.1.2. The Apse and bemah
The Apse and bemah area was, according to literary material and excavations,
intensively illuminated. The suspended lamps found in the bemah and apse area
include both lamps with a stem and lamps with handles, and the various chains by
which they were hung376
. No hanging bronze lamps have been found at synagogue
sites, but their presence both on synagogue mosaics and in churches supports the
theory that they were present377
.
The Apse and bemah were the focal areas of both synagogue and church. The focus of
this area in churches was the holy altars with their reliquaries below378
. In synagogues
the focus was the Torah Shrine that housed the Torah scrolls. These books were
considered holy and, according to the Talmud, rendered the Torah Shrine holy379
. A
lamp suspended from the Shrine or the area above it would thus illuminate the holy
374
Dotan, supra no. 89, p. 24. 375
Kloner, supra no. 168, pp. 67-68, photo on p. 68.; Meyers, Meyers and Strange, supra no. 34, pp.
123-126, 150-151, object pl. A: 7. 376
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 138-140, glass lamps with handles: pl. Anim 4:1-6 (the latter with
cylindrical wick-holder); glass lamps with a stem: pl. Anim 4:8-7; Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp. 14-17;
Weiss, supra no. 20, p. 302, figs.1-3, on p. 303. 377
Sukenik, supra no. 235, pp. 21-27; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 152-154; Burdajewicz, supra no. 317, pp.
127-143, fig. 2, A-C; Mlynarczyk and Burdajewicz, supra no. 316,
http://hippos.haifa.ac.il/excavationReport/2001/areas.html 378
Tsafrir, supra no. 288, p. 231. 379
Yerushalmi Megillah 3: 1, 73 d (part 3, page 23, side 2)
76
site380
. Some have suggested that this lamp was the ner tamid or eternal light known
in later synagogue practice381
. Hachlili found it hard to accept this assumption as the
lamps featuring on mosaics and other decorative art are both hanging from Torah
Shrine pediments and from menoroth382
. Fine points out that the term ner tamid was
never used to indicate ashishit or hanging lamp in rabbinic literature383
. The lamps lit
in front of the Torah Shrines were, in his opinion, votive lamps influenced by
Christian practice384
. S. Safrai pointed out that it was the menorah that was the eternal
light of the synagogue385
. The practice of lighting a menorah in the synagogue was
apparently developed in the Amoraic Era , and became a commandment in the Gaonic
age, i.e. by the end of the Byzantine Period386
. In his opinion, the revival was
probably based on readings on the Torah and Prophets or even influenced by the
extensive use of the menorah in depictions of the period, and therefore not of
Christian inspiration.
Hachlili believes that the menorah mosaics depicted actual realities in synagogues,
and concludes that the menorah functioned in synagogue rituals both as an object of
ritual and as a symbol representative of the Temple menorah387
. The menoroth or
seven-branched lamp stands shown on these mosaics do have their counterparts in the
380
Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 84-92, photo 26, fig. 27; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 159-164;
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 116-117,121, 140; Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp. 16-17; Sukenik, supra no. 235,
pp. 21-27. 381
Levine, supra no. 2, p. 356; Meyers and Meyers, supra no. 47, pp. 84-86. 382
Hachlili, supra no. 7, pp. 238, 251, 268-272 and plate 54 a and b. To Hachlili's opinion was the
hanging lamps portrayed together with the other ritual equipment on the mosaics due to the lamps
belonging in the same ritual category as the lulav, Incense Shovel and Ram's Horn. 383
Fine, supra no. 9, p. 76, note 97. 384
Ibid. p. 76. 385
S. Safrai, supra no. 10, pp. 48-49 386
Ginzberg, supra no. 356, p. 77. 387
Hachlili, supra no. 8, pp. 178-188, 199, 206.
77
excavated finds from synagogues388
. Some of the excavated menoroth were made of
hard limestone, others of imported marble. They show similarities to the menoroth
depicted on the mosaic floors of synagogues, when it comes to the decorative shape of
the branches and the lamps on top389
. Some of the menoroth had glass cups on top of
their branches, while others had open spouted cups made of the same material as the
menorah390
. Both types of lamp were meant for illumination, and in use. According to
the archaeological material, the stone lamps can probably be dated to the 5th
and 6th
centuries391
. This dating together with the dated mosaic floors showing menoroth
clearly indicates the practice of lighting menoroth in the synagogue of the Byzantine
era.
The menoroth, thus thought to have stood on or to the sides of the bemah, further
increased the impression of a bright and holy area around the holy Torah Shrine.
Their prevalence on the mosaic floors and their connection to the Jerusalem Temple
menorah and the Jewish rituals indicates that they were not merely functional or
decorative lamps, but had symbolic value and a ritual function in the synagogues392
.
5.1.3 Repositories
The presence of lamps in storage in the area of the bemah and apse is rather
puzzling393
. Repositories in the floors of the apse at synagogues are reminiscent of the
388
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 154-159; Slouschz, supra no. 5, p. 32, pl. 16; Yeivin, supra no. 5 (Hebrew),
p. 272, pl. 54:5;Yeivin, supra no. 159, pp. 93-98. 389
Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 154-15; Dotan, supra no. 83, pp. 37-38; Slouschz, supra no. 5, p. 32, pl. 16;
Weiss, supra no. 20, pp. 68-70; 390
Slouschz, supra no. 5, p. 32, pl. 16; Yeivin, supra no. 5 (Hebrew), p. 272, pl. 54:5. 391
Rautman, supra no. 16, pp. 44-48 392
Hachlili, supra no. 8, pp. 178- 188, 199, 206. 393
Dotan, supra no. 83. pp. 27-31, 62-65; Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp.14-17; Tzaferis, supra no. 128,
pp. 215-124, 128.
78
reliquaries in churches, though the storage of venerated saintly remains is out of the
question in synagogues394
. The repositories have been considered treasuries, as some
contained coins and ceramic lamps395
. The latter were presumably used when adding
or removing coins. Repositories rich in ceramic and glass lamp finds require further
explanation396
. It seems insufficient to conclude that the lamps were used as fill, as it
seems they were intentionally left in the constructed repositories. The deliberate
storage of whole and smashed vessels might indicate that they were interred to
prevent their further use. Such measures could have been considered necessary if the
lamps had been lit with shemen srefa397
. The use of this oil might have rendered the
lamps unfit for mundane use and have thus resulted in interment of the lamps.
Alternatively, the lamps may have been donated specifically for synagogue use, and
thus have been unfit to use elsewhere398
. A similar suggestion can be made for a large
concentration of glass interred under the synthronon at the central apse of the
cathedral of Pella while the church was still in use. Smith and Day suggested that the
interment might indicate that the vessels were stored there to prevent their further use.
Other repositories in synagogues were found empty, but with scattered remains such
as amulets on the floor above that might suggest that they were once stored in the
repository399
. It seems obvious, however, that the repositories were intended for
storage, but not the kind of devotional storage known from churches. The similarity
between the repositories in churches and synagogues, and the fact that the repositories
394
Tsafrir, supra no. 288, p. 231. 395
Ilan and Damati, supra no. 27, pp. 66-68; Sukenik, supra no. 235, p. 13. 396
Dotan, supra no. 83, pp. 31, 62-66; Dotan, supra no. 89, p. 25. 397
Mishna Terumot, 11:10. 398
Tosefta Megillah 2:14, p. 643. 399
Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp. 16-17.
79
were not a common feature in synagogues, seems to indicate that they were adopted
from the church architecture. In the churches the repositories had a clear function,
while in synagogues several options seem feasible, none of them part of the
synagogue liturgy. The same kind of non-functional adoption has been suggested for
the chancel screens400
.
5.1.4. Other rooms
Some of the side rooms to the synagogue hall functioned as storerooms; these
corresponded to the diaconicon in churches401
. These storerooms, both in synagogues
and churches, contained, upon excavation, large amounts of artifacts which were
stored there both before and after their use402
. Glass lamps with a stem could have
fitted in wall holders in these small rooms, but the large quantity of lamps with a stem
found clearly indicates that they were there for storage and not for use in the store
rooms403
. It is thus reasonable that the other equipment in these rooms were also
stored there: ceramic lamps, glass lamps with handles, lamp hangers, ceramic wick
holders, and coins hoards404
. These rooms would, therefore, have functioned as
storage space for acquired and donated equipment intended for use in the synagogue
as well as for equipment that had been used, but was not in permanent use in the
structure. This would include equipment with dedicatory inscriptions, whether they
were intended for repeated use in the future or not.
400
Habas, supra no. 26, pp. 119-120, 129-130. 401
Tsafrir, supra no. 288, pp. 231, 249. 402
Dotan, supra no. 83, pp. 27-31 and 63; Dotan, supra no. 89, p. 25; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 151, 154-
156; Mlynarczyk and Burdajewicz, supra no. 288, pp. 24-32; Tsafrir, supra no. 232, pp. 64-69. 403
Dotan, supra no. 89, pp. 84-86, 120-121; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 161-162. 404
Meyers, Meyer and Strange, supra no. 33, pp. 123-126, 150-151; Dotan, supra no.89, pp. 75-90,
120-121, 127; Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 151, 154-156, 161-162.
80
5.2 Functions
The lamps first and foremost served to illuminate the congregational hall as well as
other service rooms in the synagogues. Seven-branched menoroth seem to have
served a ritual role405
. In addition, it seems that polycandela and ashishiot illuminated
focal areas406
. The donation of lamps had a social function not elaborated upon in this
work407
.
The several hoards and interred equipment in the synagogue structures indicates that
they were deliberately withheld from further use; whether this was because they were
considered holy, or because they were donated and thus regarded as belonging to the
synagogue and unfit for use elsewhere, is not certain. Rabbinic texts support the latter
theory408
.
5.3 Conclusion
The lighting of the synagogues of the Byzantine Period in Eretz Israel seems to have
become illuminated. The picture appears similar to that of the churches of the age,
both when it comes to storage and active use. The halls were illuminated by numerous
hanging lamps, with flickering flames when the daylight coming through the windows
did not provide sufficient lighting. Focal areas, such as the apse, bemah and Torah
Shrine were further illuminated during daytime. Several synagogues had seven
branched menoroth which were probably situated in the vicinity of the Torah Shrines,
405
See discussion above. 406
Zori, supra no. 117, pp. 163-164; Amit, supra no. 16, pp. 138-140, see reconstruction on fig. 16:4;
Rahmani, supra no. 180, pp. 14-17. 407
Levine, supra no. 2, pp. 372-373 408
Tosefta Megillah 2:14, p. 643, translation according to Levine, supra no. 2, p. 360.
81
i.e. the focal area of the service. Whether these were illuminated in a ritual act is
uncertain. The lighting of lights in the synagogue is mentioned in a manuscript from
the Kairo Genizah409
. The practice was connected to the Jerusalem Temple where the
menorah was ritually lit. As the Temple connection became increasingly important in
the synagogue of the Byzantine era, it is reasonable to suggest that the lighting of
lamps gained additional importance. The genizah text and the menoroth found in the
ancient synagogues might reflect a menorah lighting ritual now lost; alternatively, it
might be the forerunner of the eternal light lit in present-day synagogues.
409
Ginzberg, supra no. 351, p. 77, translation according to Levine, supra no. 2, pp. 356-357.
82
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Figure 1 Glass lamp types
Conical lamps
1. Crowfoot and Harden, Karanis type A 2. Barag type 1
Hemispherical bowls
3. Crowfoot and Harden, Karanis type B 4. Barag type 10
Glass lamps with handles
5. Crowfoot and Harden type C1 6. Barag type 12 and 13
99
Figure 2 Glass lap types
1. Hadad type 1
Glass lamps with hollow stem
2. Crowfoot and Harden type B2 3. Hadad types 4 and 5
4. Barag types 4-8
Glass lamp with beaded stem
5. Crowfoot and Harden type B1 6. Barag type 3 and 3.1 7. Hadad type 2
100
Figure 3 Ceramic wick-holders and Synagogues Meroth
1. Ceramic wick-holders from Caesarea 2. menorah branch
Gush Halav
3. Ceramic lamps of phase III
4. Ceramic bowl lamps of phase III 5. Ceramic lamps of phase IV
101
Figure 4 Synagogues
Gush Halav
1. Wall holder of phase III 2. Lamp chain and rings of phase IV
3. Bronze hoop of phase IV 4. Tongs of phase III
Nabratein
5. Ceramic lamp 6. Glass lamps with handles
102
Figure 5 Synagogues
Nabratein
1. Glass lamps with a stem 2. Lamp filler
3. Pediment 4. Black ceramic bowl
Khirbet Shema
5. Ceramic lamps 6. Glass lamps
7. Ceramic lamp
103
Figure 6 Synagogues
Kfar Hannaniah
1.Inscription on Polycandelon 2. Polycandelon
Khirbet Wadi Hamam
3. Lamp hanger 4. Hemispherical lamp
104
Figure 7 Synagogues
Hammath Tiberias North
1. menorah
Hammath Tiberias II
2. Ceramic lamps
3. Metal hook 4. Ceramic wick-holder
105
Figure 8 Synagogues
Hammath Tiberias I
1. Ceramic lamps
106
Figure 9 Synagogues
Hammath Tiberias I
1. Glass lamps with a stem
2. Glass lamps with handles 3. Ceramic wick-holders
107
Figure 10 Synagogues
Sepphoris
1. Ceramic lamp 2. Glass lamp with handles
3. Polycandelon
Sumaqa
4. Ceramic lamp 5. Glass lamp with handles 6. Glass lamp, 7. Lamp hanger
nartex
108
Figure 11 Synagogues
Kafr Misr
1. Ceramic lamp 2. Glass lamp with handles, 3. Glass lamps, phase III
phase II
Beth Shean North
4. Ceramic lamp 5. Glass lamps with handles 6. Glass lamps with a stem
7. Lamp handle 8. Lamp hanger 9. Chain, apse area
109
Figure 12 Synagogues
Beth Shean North
1. Chain, northern aisle 2. Heavy duty chain 3. Ceramic wick-holders
4. Needles
Maoz Hayyim
5. Ceramic lamps, phase II 6. Ceramic lamps, phase III
7. Glass lamps with a handle 8. Glass lamps with a stem 9. Wall holder
Figure 13 Synagogues
Jericho
1. Lamp hangers
Ein Gedi
2. Ceramic lamp
Hurbat Maon
4. Ceramic lamps
110
Synagogues
3. Bronze menorah
menorah
111
Figure 14 Synagogues
Hurbat Maon
1. Glass lamps with handles 2. Glass lamps with a stem
3. Glass handles 4. Bronze rings 5. Needle
6. Marble menorah fragments
7. Finds from the vicinity of paving stone in the centre of the hall floor
Figure 15 Synagogues
Khirbet Susiya
1. Marble menorah fragments
Estemoa
3. Marble menorah fragments
Hurbat Anim
4. Ceramic lamp 5. Glass lamps with handles
112
Synagogues
fragments 2. Inscription
fragments
5. Glass lamps with handles 6. Glass lamps with a stem
6. Glass lamps with a stem
113
Figure 16 Synagogues
Horvat Rimmon
1. Bronze lamp 2. Wall holder and metal dump
3. Bronze fragments of polycandelon
Maon Nirim
4. Ceramic lamps, apse 5. Ceramic lamps, hall 6. Glass lamps
114
Figure 17 Synagogues and parallels to lamps in synagogues
Maon Nirim
1. Polycandelon fragment 2. Lamp Hanger fragments 3. Hooks and chains
4. Lamp from the 6. Lamp and hanger 7. Lamp holder,
Schlossinger collection from Pella Rehovot-in-the-Negev
5. Lamp from Beth Shean
Figure 18 Stone menoroth
1. Hurbat Maon and Estemoa
3. Horvat Koshet
5. Sardis
115
menoroth
and Estemoa 2. Khirbet Susiya
4. Khirbet ed
4. Khirbet ed-Duheisha
Figure 19 Synagogue mosaics with
1. Hammath Tiberias II
2. Beth Alpha
3. Beth Shean North
116
Synagogue mosaics with menoroth flanking an architectural structure
flanking an architectural structure
Figure 20 Lamps depicted on top of
1. Hammath Tiberias II
3. Husseifa
4. Beth Alpha
5. Naaran
6. Sepphoris
7. Beth Leontis
9. Khirbet Susiya
117
Lamps depicted on top of menoroth
2. Beth Shean North
8. Maon Nirim
Figure 21
1. Lamp according to Lester
4. Mosaic, Beth Alpha
7. Khirbet Khirbet Susiya
118
Lester 2. Lamp, Gerasa 3. Glass Goblet,Gerasa
5. Mosaic, Naaran 6. The Stuma Paten
8. Mosaic, Gerasa 9. Mosaic, Beth Leontis
3. Glass Goblet,Gerasa
6. The Stuma Paten
9. Mosaic, Beth Leontis
Figure 22
1. Incense burner,
Monastery of Lady Mary
3. Repository, Hammath Tiberias II
5. Kafr Misr
119
2. Incense burner,
Beth Shean North
3. Repository, Hammath Tiberias II 4. Horvat Rimmon
6. Ein Gedi
120
Figure 23 Store rooms
1. Gush Halav 2. Beth Shean North
3. Hammat Tiberias I 4. Meroth
5. North Western Church at Hippos 6. Northern Church,
Rehovot-in-the-Negev
Figure 24
1. Plan of the church at Nahariya
3. Lamp, North Western Church, Hippos
3. Arch stone with holes for suspension
from Rehovot-in-the-Negev
121
1. Plan of the church at Nahariya 2. Chains from church at Nahariya
Lamp, North Western Church, Hippos 4. Polycandelon, North Western Church,
Hippos
Arch stone with holes for suspension 4. Suggested reconstruction of the focal
Negev area at the synagogue of Hurvat Anim
2. Chains from church at Nahariya
, North Western Church,
4. Suggested reconstruction of the focal
area at the synagogue of Hurvat Anim
122
List of figures
Figure 1 Glass lamp types
1. Crowfoot, G.M. and Harden, D.B. "Early Byzantine and later Glass Lamps",
Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, v. 17, (1931), p. 197, pl. 28:1-3.
2. Barag, D. Glass Vessels of the Roman and Byzantine Periods in Palestine, 2
volumes, Doctoral thesis, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1970 (Hebrew), pl.
40:1-1.2.
3. Crowfoot and Harden, supra no. 1.1. pp. 197-198, pl. 29:17.
4. Barag, supra no.1.2, pl. 40:10
5. Crowfoot and Harden, supra no. 1.1. p. 199, pl. 30:40.
6. Barag, supra no. 1.2, pl. 40:3-9.
Figure 2 Glass lamp types
1. Hadad, S. "Glass Lamps from the Byzantine through Mamluk Periods at Bet
Shean, Israel", Journal of Glass Studies, volume 40, (1998), p. 65, fig. 1:1-13.
2. Crowfoot and Harden, supra no. 1.1. p. 198, pl. 29:24-26.
3. Hadad, supra no. 2.1, pp. 70-71, figs. 4:46-56.
4. Barag, supra no. 1.2, pl. 40:4-8.
5. Crowfoot and Harden, supra no. 1.1. p. 198, pl. 29:21-23.
6. Barag, supra no. 1.2, pl. 40:3-3.1.
7. Hadad, supra no. 2.1, pp. 66-67, fig. 2:14-42.
Figure 3 Ceramic wick-holders and Synagogues
1. Peleg, M. and Reich, R. "Excavations of a Segment of the Byzantine City
Wall if Caesarea Maritima", Atiqot 21 (1992), p. 160, fig. 21.
123
2. Ilan, Z. and Damati, E. Meroth: The Ancient Jewish Village, Tel Aviv: Society
for the Protection of Nature in Israel, 1987 (Hebrew), p. 50.
3. Meyers, E.M. Meyer, C.L. and Strange J.F. Excavations at the Ancient
Synagogue of Gush Halav (Meiron Excavation Project Reports 5), Winona
Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990, pp. 160-165, pl. B: 6, 9, 11, 16, C: 2-7, 12-13, D:3.
4. Ibid. pp. 162-163, pl. C: 16-19.
5. Ibid. pp. 164-165, pl. D: 4, 6-7.
Figure 4 Synagogues
1. Ibid. pp. 150-151, pl. A: 7.
2. Ibid. pp. 150-155, pl. A: 6, C: 1-2.
3. Ibid. pp. 152-153, pl. B: 3.
4. Ibid. pp. 150-151, pl. A: 5.
5. Meyers E.M. and Meyers, C.L. Excavations at Ancient Nabratein: Synagogue
and Environs (Meiron Excavation Project Reports 6), Winona Lake:
Eisenbrauns, 2009, p. 281, B:11.
6. Ibid. pp. 329, 331, pl. H:3, I:2.
Figure 5 Synagogues
1. Ibid. p. 339, pl. M:1-4.
2. Ibid. p. 346, photo 56.
3. Ibid. p. 86, fig. 27.
4. Ibid. p. 145, photos 45.
124
5. Meyers, E. M. Kraabel, A.T and Strange, J.F. Ancient Synagogue Excavations
at Khirbet Shema, Upper Galilee, Israel 1970-1972 (AASOR 62), Durham,
1976, pls. 8:9.7, 10 and 8:10.5-6, 9 and 8:11.6, 8.
6. Ibid. pl. 8:7.30 and pl. 8:8.14-15.
7. Ibid. pl. 8:10.10.
Figure 6 Synagogues
1. Naveh, J. On Stone and Mosaic, the Aramaic and Hebrew Inscriptions from
Ancient Synagogues, Jerusalem, 1978 (Hebrew), pp. 34-36
2. Ibid. pp. 34-36.
3. Leibner, U. "Excavations at Khirbet Wadi Hamam (Lower Galilee): the
synagogue and the settlement", Journal of Roman Archaeology 23 (2010), p.
232, fig. 9.
4. Leibner, U. "Khirbet Wadi Hamam: Village and Synagogue from the Roman
Period in the Galilee", Qadmoniot 139 (2010), (Hebrew), p. 39.
Figure 7 Synagogues
1. Israeli, Y. In the light of the Menorah, Story of a Symbol, Jerusalem: the Israel
Museum, p. 95.
2. Dotan, M. Hammath Tiberias, Early Synagogues and the Hellenistic and
Roman Remains, Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1983, p. 65, fig. 5: A-
O.
3. Ibid. p. 63, fig. 4:X.
4. Ibid. p. 63, fig. 4:V.
125
Figure 8 Synagogues
1. Dotan, M. Hammath Tiberias, Volume II: Late Synagogues, Jerusalem: Israel
Exploration Society, 2000, pp. 76-79, figs. 18-21.
Figure 9 Synagogues
1. Ibid. pp. 85-86, figs. 22:1-16 and 23:17-22.
2. Ibid. p. 86, fig. 23:23-29.
3. Ibid. p. 88, fig. 25:44-50.
Figure 10 Synagogues
1. Weiss, Z. The Sepphoris Synagogue: Deciphering an Ancient Message
through its Archaeological and Socio-Historical Contexts, Jerusalem: Israel
Exploration Society, 2005, p. 301, pl. E.I: 1, 3.
2. Ibid. p. 296, pl. D.I:5.
3. Ibid. p. 303, figs.1-3.
4. S. Kingsley, "The Sumaqa Pottery Assemblage: Classification and
Quantification", in: S. Dar (ed.), Sumaqa: A Roman and Byzantine Jewish
Village on Mount Carmel, Israel, (B.A.R. International Series 815), Oxford:
Archaeopress, 1999, p. 315, fig. 14:13, 23.
5. Lehrer Jacobson, G. "The Glass vessels from Horvat Sumaqa", in: S. Dar
(ed.), Sumaqa: A Roman and Byzantine Jewish Village on Mount Carmel,
Israel, (B.A.R. International Series 815), Oxford: Archaeopress, 1999, p. 334,
fig.1:8.
6. Ibid. p. 336, fig. 2:16.
126
7. Dar, S. Sumaqa: A Roman and Byzantine Jewish Village on Mount Carmel,
Israel (B.A.R. International Series 815), Oxford: Archaeopress, 1999, p. 29,
fig. 17.
Figure 11 Synagogues
1. Onn, A."The Ancient Synagogue at Kafr Misr", Atiqot 25 (1994), p. 128, fig.
15:9.
2. Ibid. p. 130, fig. 17:1.
3. Ibid. p. 130, fig. 17:2-3, 7-9.
4. Zori, N. "The Ancient Synagogue at Beth Shean", Eretz-Israel 8 (1967),
(Hebrew), p. 161, fig. 10:7.
5. Ibid. p. 162, fig. 11:9-10.
6. Ibid. p. 162, fig. 11:1-3, 5.
7. Ibid. pl. 33:3.
8. Ibid. pl. 33:7.
9. Ibid. pl. 43:8.
Figure 12 Synagogues
1. Ibid. pl. 34:4.
2. Ibid. pl. 34:11.
3. Ibid. p. 161, fig. 10:4, pl. 32:6.
4. Ibid. pl. 33:5.
5. Tzaferis, V. "The Ancient Synagogue at Maoz Hayyim", Israel Exploration
Journal 32 (1982), p. 238, fig. 11:1-2, 4.
6. Ibid. pl. 35:A.
127
7. Ibid. p. 241, fig. 12: 3-7
8. Ibid. p. 241, fig 12: 1-2
9. Ibid. pl. 36:B.
Figure 13 Synagogues
1. Baramki, D.C, "An Early Byzantine Synagogue near Tel as-Sultan, Jericho",
QDAP 6 (1938), pl. 12.
2. Barag, D. Porat, Y. and Netzer, E." The Synagogue at 'En-Gedi", in: L. I.
Levine (ed.), Ancient Synagogues Revealed, Jerusalem: The Israel Exploration
Society, 1981, p. 118.
3. Hirschfeld, Y. "Introduction", in: Y. Hirschfeld (ed.), Ein-Gedi Excavations
II: Final Report (1996-2002), Jerusalem: The Israel Exploration Society and
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Institute of Archaeology, 2007, p. 18,
fig. 23.
4. Amit, D. The synagogues of HurbatMaon and HurbatAnim and the Jewish
Settlement in Southern Hebron Hills, Doctoral thesis, Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, 2003 (Hebrew), pl. Maon 2:1-2, 4, 6-7, 9-13, 15.
Figure 14 Synagogues
1. Ibid. pl. Maon 3:1, 3-5, 7, 10-12.
2. Ibid. pl. Maon 4: 1, 4-6.
3. Ibid. pl. Maon 3: 15-16.
4. Ibid. pl. Maon 5:5-7.
5. Ibid. pl. Maon 5:8.
6. Ibid. pl. Maon 20:1-5, 7-11.
128
7. Ibid. pl. Maon 2:8, 3:9, 4:3, 1:38 and 20:6.
Figure 15 Synagogues
1. Yeivin, Z. Kh. Susia, Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 1993 (Hebrew),
p. 23.
2. Yeivin, Z. "Inscribed Marble Fragments from the Kh. Susiya Synagogue",
Israel Exploration Journal 24 (1974), pl. 44: D.
3. Yeivin, Z. "Reconstruction of the Southern Interior Wall of the Khorazin
Synagogue", Eretz-Israel, 18 (1985), (Hebrew), pl. 54:5.
4. Amit, supra no. 13.4, pl. Anim 3:1.
5. Ibid. pl. Anim 4:1-6.
6. Ibid. pl. Anim 4:8-7.
Figure 16 Synagogues
1. Kloner, A. "The Synagogue at Hurvat Rimon", Qadmoniot, Vol. 16, Nos. 62-
63 (1983), (Hebrew), p.68.
2. Ibid. p.68
3. Ibid. p. 68.
4. Levy, S. "The ancient Synagogue of Ma'on (Nirim), A. Excavation Report",
M. Avi-Yonah (ed.), Bulletin of the Louis M. Rabinowitz Fund for the
Exploration of Ancient Synagogues III (1960), p. 13, fig. 6:9-11.
5. Ibid, p. 13, fig.6:12-13.
6. Rahmani, L.Y. "The Ancient Synagogue of Ma'on (Nirim), B. The Small
Finds and Coins", M. Avi-Yonah (ed.), Bulletin of the Louis M. Rabinowitz
Fund for the Exploration of Ancient Synagogues III (1960), p. 17, fig. 9:1-5.
129
Figure 17 Synagogues and parallels to lamps in synagogues
1. Ibid. pl. II:9.
2. Ibid. pl. II: 2, upper centre.
3. Ibid. pl. II: 3.
4. Rosenthal-Heginbottom R. and Sivan, R. Ancient Lamps in the Schloessinger
Collection, Qedem 8 (1978), p. 160, Lamp: 662.
5. Hadad, S. The Oil Lamps from the Hebrew University Excavations at Bet
Shean, Qedem Reports 4 (2002), pp. 137-138, Lamp: 523.
6. Smith R.H. and Day, L.P. Pella of the Decapolis 2, (1989), p. 115, fig. 32,
right.
7. Tsafrir, Y. Excavations at Rehovot-in-the-Negev, Volume I: The Northern
Church, Qedem 25 (1988), p. 16, ill. 26.
Figure 18 Stone menoroth
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Figure 19 Mosaics with menoroth flanking an archaeological structure
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Figure 20 Lamps depicted on top of menoroth
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Figure 23
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