When was the synagogue invented?

 

The invention of the synagogue as a house of prayer was a major innovation in Jewish religious life, and this form of worship would be adopted by Christianity and Islam. The focus for prayer in Judaism was initially the Temple, and the synagogue would only take over this function after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. This innovation allowed everyone, other than just the priestly class, to become involved in more of the rituals of Judaism and to be able to develop a closer relationship with God.

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The earliest archaeological evidence of a synagogue comes from Egypt, where dedication inscriptions were discovered on a structure dating from the 3rd century BCE identifying it as a synagogue. The earliest evidence of a synagogue in Israel comes from the 1st century CE from the Theodotus Inscription found on a stone block or stele in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem. Its Greek inscription reads: “Theodotus, son of Vettenos the priest achisynagogus, son of an archisynagogus and grandson of an archisynagogus, who built the synagogue for purposes of reciting the Law and studying the commandments, and the hostel, chambers and water installations to provide for the needs of itinerants from abroad, and whose father, with the elders and Simonidus, founded the synagogue.” This inscription tells us that very early synagogues during the time of the Second Temple were used for reading and studying the Torah and hosting visitors, although not necessarily for prayer.

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The Greek word “synagogue,” like its Hebrew equivalent beit knesset, means place of assembly. At this early stage, synagogues and town halls may have been one and the same, making it difficult to determine when these buildings developed a religious function. This is the case, for example, for the ancient synagogue at Um el-Umdan in Modi’in. As architecturally-identifiable structures, synagogues did not become a fixed institution in Judea until shortly before the destruction of the Second Temple. When the Galilee became the center of Jewish life after the Bar Kochba Revolt of 132 to 136 CE, synagogues were built in Jewish communities throughout the Galilee.

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The architectural style of these early synagogues usually reflected regional architectural styles. The synagogue in Bar’am is in a Roman style with dressed stones and an impressive façade. By contrast, the architectural richness of later Byzantine synagogues, especially in mixed Jewish and Christian areas, was usually in the interior rather than exterior, and external stones were usually not dressed. Examples of this can be seen in Beit Alfa and Hamat Gader. The decorative symbols in the interior of these synagogue frequently reflected temple worship and was one way for perpetuating the memory of the Temple and wishing for its restoration.