The Jerusalem Post reports that researchers uncovered a 1,500-year-old synagogue while excavating in the Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve. It was found when field teams spotted its column of drums and decorated stones where an ancient village once stood. This means that during the Roman and Byzantine eras, there was a Jewish community living here:
The ongoing excavation is led by the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at Haifa University and the Land of Israel Studies department at the Kinneret Academic College, licensed by the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the United Israel Appeal and the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund.
Although earlier surveys had recorded hundreds of basalt fragments from these periods, this prayer hall had eluded discovery. Among the finds documented before the current season were more than 150 lintels, column sections, and carved stones that villagers had reused in later construction.
“As part of a multiyear project to document architectural items from Golan villages, we recorded over 150 pieces in secondary use inside the abandoned Syrian village, but the location of the synagogue was not known until now,” said Dr. Mechael Osband of the Kinneret Academic College.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority said that about 25 ancient synagogues have been uncovered in Golan Heights. This underscores what both Jews and Christians know already: the Jewish people have an ancient connection to the Holy Land. Plans are underway to explore the interior floors of the synagogue to see how the ancient Jews held services and how much of these practices continue to exist in Israel today.
