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Description:
The synagogue uncovered at En-Gedi, dated to the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, was the central building in this “very large village of Jews” in the words of Eusebius from the fourth century CE. The excavation of the synagogue and its immediate environs was conducted 50 years ago by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Department of Antiquities (currently the Israel Antiquities Authority), and this volume sees the final publication of its rich remains, in the Qedem Monograph Series of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The volume includes detailed plans, color photos, drawings and discussions of the architecture and stratigraphy of the building’s phases, as well as the rich, unique mosaics that include a long Hebrew-Aramaic inscription. Pottery, glass, metal, floral and faunal remains, and the find context of the only scroll with a Torah text ever found in an ancient synagogue context, are presented. Additional unique finds from the synagogue include a copper menorah that had stood near the ark and pendants that had adorned the ark’s parochet. The stratigraphic and chronological discussion provides important insight into the study of the ancient synagogue specifically in this peripheral regional and in general throughout the country.

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