Anim Synagogue, a 25 km (16 mi) drive northwest of Arad, was an ancient synagogue in use during the 4th–7th centuries CE. The site is recognized as a National Heritage Site of Israel. It is located in the Yatir Forest, immediately south of the Green Line, in Israel.
 | |
  Shown within Israel | |
| Location |  Israel |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 31°20′33″N 35°03′42″E / 31.3425°N 35.061667°E |
| Length | 14.5 m (48 ft) |
| Width | 8.5 m (28 ft) |
| History | |
| Material | Hewn stone |
| Founded | 4th century CE |
| Abandoned | 8th century CE |
| Periods | Roman-Byzantine |
| Cultures | Jewish |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1988–89 |
| Archaeologists | Z. Ilan & Dan Urman |
| Condition | ruin |
| Public access | yes |
History edit
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The synagogue is located at an ancient site identified with the Anim mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 15:50). It is also believed to be the site of the large Jewish village of Anaya (Άναιά) during the Roman-Byzantine period.[1] Eusebius mentions the same village in his Onomasticon as being one of two villages in his day, located south of Hebron, and bearing the same name.[2] One of the two villages, he writes, had a settlement of Jews, while the other, of Christians.[2][3]
The synagogue was discovered during an excavation conducted in 1987. It consists of a rectangular prayer hall orientated towards Jerusalem measuring 14.5 by 8.5 metres (48 ft × 28 ft), an entrance portico and a courtyard with rooms on both sides.[1] Hewn stone walls still stand to a height of 3.5 m (11 ft) and two entrances on the east side survive with their lintels intact. Evidence of a mosaic floor was found beneath the current stone slab flooring[1] and fragments of an inscription remain.[4] The building functioned as a synagogue until the seventh or eighth century when it was turned into a mosque.[4]
The site of the ancient Jewish village is now known as Lower Horvat Anim (Khirbet Ghuwein et-Taḥta) (grid position 156/084 PAL), with a neighbouring contemporary Christian village at Upper Horvat Anim (Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa) just 2 km northeast from it.[5][6][7] Ben-Yosef places the site of the Upper Horvat Anim at a distance of 5 km northeast of the lower site (grid position 1583/0855 PAL).[2] Excavations at Upper Horvat Anim have uncovered the remains of a larger regional Byzantine church outside the village,[2] overlooking it from the hill to the east and joined to it by a pathway—a configuration repeatedly met in the Southern Hebron Hills.[6]
Rabbi Shimon ben Yehudah, mentioned in Pesikta Rabbati, came from the village of Anim.[8]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b c Dan Urman; Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher (1998). Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery. BRILL. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-90-04-11254-4. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ a b c d Ben-Yosef, Sefi [in Hebrew], ed. (n.d.). Israel Guide - Judaea (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country) (in Hebrew). Vol. 9. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, in affiliation with the Israel Ministry of Defence. p. 220. OCLC 745203905., s.v. חורבות ענים
- ^ Chapmann III, R.L.; Taylor, J.E., eds. (2003). Palestine in the Fourth Century A.D.: The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea. Translated by G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville. Jerusalem: Carta. pp. 23, 110. ISBN 965-220-500-1. OCLC 937002750.
Tribe of Judah. There is another Anaia near the first, which now happens to be completely Christian, lying east of the first.
, s.v. Anaia I - ^ a b Günter Stemberger (2000). Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in the Fourth Century. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0-567-08699-0. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ Tsafrir, Y.; Leah Di Segni; Judith Green (1994). (TIR): Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudaea, Palestina: Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic , Roman and Byzantine Periods; Maps and Gazetteer. Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. p. 62. ISBN 965-208-107-8.
- ^ a b Doron Bar, 'The Christianisation of Rural Palestine during_Late Antiquity', Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 54, No. 3, July 2003, pp.401–421; p.413.
- ^ Horvat 'Anim at BibleWalks.com, accessed 16 July 2019
- ^ Pesikta Rabbati (n.d.). Meir Ish Shalom of Vienna (ed.). Midrash Pesikta Rabbati (in Hebrew). Israel: not identified. p. 118a (Ten commandments - Third section). OCLC 249274973. (reprinted from 1880 edition)
External links edit
- The Design of the Ancient synagogues in Judea: Horvat Ma’on and Horvat ‘Anim, by D. Chen & D. Milson.