Overview

Bibliography

Deir ‘Aziz is a ruined village at the edge of the Golan plateau, on a slope overlooking the Nahal Kanaf (also known as the Wadi Deir ‘Aziz). Surveys suggest that the village was founded in the early Roman period and flourished from the Late Roman period through eighth century, with sporadic settlement in later periods. The only excavated building is a small synagogue, which lies midway down the slope, above a spring that continues to flow.

The structure of the synagogue was described and drawn by L. Oliphant in 1885, but the building was not identified as a synagogue until 1979 during a survey by Zvi Uri Ma‘oz, after it had been used as a dwelling and for storage in the 1950s. The synagogue was excavated by Ma‘oz and Chaim Ben-David between 1998 and 2004.

The synagogue was built in the mid-sixth century, incorporating materials from earlier structures. It consisted of a paved atrium on the west and a prayer hall surrounded by benches. In a second phase, a narthex or antechamber was added on the east. A staircase behind the narthex leads to the women’s gallery overlooking the prayer hall. The synagogue was destroyed during the earthquake of 749, rebuilt, and continued to serve as a synagogue into the ninth century, after which the building was abandoned and reused for other purposes.

The synagogue is oriented east-west, along the slope of the wadi, with an apse in its southern wall facing Jerusalem. Within the apse was a podium that projected into the prayer hall and undoubtedly served as the base for the Ark of the Torah.