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Ein Nashut

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Ein Neshut synagogue
The ancient synagogue remains, in 2016
Ein Nashut is located in the Golan Heights
Ein Nashut
Location of the ancient synagogue in the Golan Heights
Religion
AffiliationJudaism (former)
StatusRuins
Location
Locationnear Katzrin, Golan Heights
CountryIsrael
Coordinates33°0′47.2″N 35°41′31.9″E / 33.013111°N 35.692194°E / 33.013111; 35.692194
Architecture
Completedc. 5th century CE
Interior area
10 by 11 m (33 by 36 ft)

Ein Neshut is an archaeological site where remains of a Jewish settlement from the Talmudic period and an ancient synagogue were discovered in the center of the Golan Heights that were in use from the 5th century CE to the 7th century, when the site was abandoned.[1]

Geography

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The site is located on a hill 392 m (1,286 ft) above sea level, approximately 1.5 km (0.93 mi) north of Katzrin and a similar distance south of the settlement of Kidmat Tzvi, just above the beginning of the Meshushim River ravine. The site's Arabic name is Khirbet Deir Rahib.

Archeology

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The site was first explored in the 1880s by researcher Gottlieb Schumacher, who described Deir er-Rahib as "a small ruined village, with important ancient remains south of Nu'aran."[2] According to Meir Dafna and Meir Eran, Schumacher suggested that the site contained the remains of an ancient synagogue.[1]

Excavations in the late 1970s revealed the remains of a synagogue that was built in the 5th century based on coins found at the site, and there is evidence of a series of repairs made at the site, which was abandoned in the 7th century CE.[3] It was located at the north-western end of the settlement.[4] The synagogue measured 10 by 11 m (33 by 36 ft) and had benches, columns and decorated capitals and some of them with a nine-branched Menorah; although images of seven-branched Menorahs appear at the site, mirroring what existed in the Temple in Jerusalem.[3] An "impression of the Ark" was found in plaster located n the south side of the building facing Jerusalem.[3]

Beside the synagogue, two oil press were discovered, one of which was used from the 4th century to the 6th century.[4] Remains of additional synagogues from the same period were also discovered 1.5 km (0.93 mi) to south east in the ruins of Sokho also known as Ahmadiyya, and in the Debia ruins, approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) east of the site.[citation needed]

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 "Ancient Synagogues Of The Golan". יד יצחק בן־צבי (in Hebrew). Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  2. ↑ Schumacher, Gottlieb (1888). The Jaulân : surveyed for the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land. University of California Libraries. London : R. Bentley. p. 119.
  3. 1 2 3 Rosenberg, Stephen Gabriel. ?"The ancient synagogues of Ein Nashut and Yehudiya", The Jerusalem Post, October 23, 2009. Accessed July 16, 2026. "These coins, together with a smaller collection of 51 copper bits dating from 425 CE to 450 CE which were found in a chamber below the synagogue, date the building to the mid-fifth century - only a generation or two after the completion of the Jerusalem Talmud.... The synagogue continued to be used until the seventh century, when the village was abandoned.... On the south wall, facing Jerusalem, there is an impression of the ark in the plasterwork and remains of the lowest step of its niche."
  4. 1 2 אורן זינגבוים ורועי עסיס (May 14, 2020). "גיליון 132 לשנת 2020חורבת עין נשוט" [Horvat Ein Nashut]. www.hadashot-esi.org.il (in Hebrew). Israel Antiquities Authority. Retrieved August 21, 2024.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Ein Nashut at Wikimedia Commons

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