Overview

Bibliography

Meiron is located in Upper Galilee, nestled in the eastern foothills of Mount Meiron just north of Wadi Meiron. Like its near neighbors, Khirbet Shema' and Gush Halav (Gischala), Meiron was a significant producer of olive oil during the Talmudic period. Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai is associated with the site, which in mystical times became a popular pilgrimage site for the Lurianic Jewish mystical tradition.

The sparsely preserved early-Byzantine period synagogue and surrounding environs were excavated by Eric Meyers during the 1970s, when it became clear that what had begun as a rescue operation in light of the expanding modern village of Meiron, carried out in connection with the excavation of nearby Khirbet Shema', merited full-scale operations of its own.