Anim synagogue

Anim Synagogue, a 25 km (16 mi) drive away northwest of Arad, was an ancient synagogue in use during the 4th–7th centuries CE. The site is recognized as a National Heritage Site of Israel. It is located in the Yatir Forest, immediately south of the Green Line, in Israel.

'Anim Synagogue
Anim synagogue is located in Israel
Anim synagogue
Shown within Israel
LocationIsrael Israel
Coordinates31.3425°N 35.061667°E / 31.3425; 35.061667
Length14.5 m (48 ft)
Width8.5 m (28 ft)
History
MaterialHewn stone
Founded4th century CE
Abandoned8th century CE
PeriodsRoman-Byzantine
CulturesJewish
Site notes
Excavation dates1988–89
ArchaeologistsZ. Ilan & Dan Urman
Conditionruin
Public accessyes

History
Synagogue interior

The synagogue is located at an ancient site identified with the Anim mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 15:50). It is also believed to be the site of the large Jewish village of Anaya (Άναιά) during the Roman-Byzantine period.[1] Eusebius mentions the same village in his Onomasticon as being one of two villages in his day, located south of Hebron, and bearing the same name.[2] One of the two villages, he writes, had a settlement of Jews, while the other, of Christians.[2][3]

The synagogue was discovered during an excavation conducted in 1987. It consists of a rectangular prayer hall orientated towards Jerusalem measuring 14.5 by 8.5 metres (48 ft × 28 ft), an entrance portico and a courtyard with rooms on both sides.[1] Hewn stone walls still stand to a height of 3.5 m (11 ft) and two entrances on the east side survive with their lintels intact. Evidence of a mosaic floor was found beneath the current stone slab flooring[1] and fragments of an inscription remain.[4] The building functioned as a synagogue until the seventh or eighth century when it was turned into a mosque.[4]

The site of the ancient Jewish village is now known as Lower Horvat Anim (Khirbet Ghuwein et-Taḥta) (grid position 156/084 PAL), with a neighbouring contemporary Christian village at Upper Horvat Anim (Khirbet Ghuwein al-Fauqa) just 2 km northeast from it.[5][6][7] Ben-Yosef places the site of the Upper Horvat Anim at a distance of 5 km northeast of the lower site (grid position 1583/0855 PAL).[2] Excavations at Upper Horvat Anim have uncovered the remains of a larger regional Byzantine church outside the village,[2] overlooking it from the hill to the east and joined to it by a pathway—a configuration repeatedly met in the Southern Hebron Hills.[6]

Rabbi Shimon ben Yehudah, mentioned in Pesikta Rabbati, came from the village of Anim.[8]

See also

References
  1. Dan Urman; Paul Virgil McCracken Flesher (1998). Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery. BRILL. pp. 135–136. ISBN 978-90-04-11254-4. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  2. Ben-Yosef, Sefi [in Hebrew], ed. (n.d.). Israel Guide - Judaea (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country) (in Hebrew). Vol. 9. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, in affiliation with the Israel Ministry of Defence. p. 220. OCLC 745203905., s.v. חורבות ענים‎
  3. Chapmann III, R.L.; Taylor, J.E., eds. (2003). Palestine in the Fourth Century A.D.: The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea. Translated by G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville. Jerusalem: Carta. pp. 23, 110. ISBN 965-220-500-1. OCLC 937002750. Tribe of Judah. There is another Anaia near the first, which now happens to be completely Christian, lying east of the first., s.v. Anaia I
  4. Günter Stemberger (2000). Jews and Christians in the Holy Land: Palestine in the Fourth Century. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0-567-08699-0. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  5. Tsafrir, Y.; Leah Di Segni; Judith Green (1994). (TIR): Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudaea, Palestina: Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic , Roman and Byzantine Periods; Maps and Gazetteer. Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. p. 62. ISBN 965-208-107-8.
  6. Doron Bar, 'The Christianisation of Rural Palestine during_Late Antiquity', Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 54, No. 3, July 2003, pp.401–421; p.413.
  7. Horvat 'Anim at BibleWalks.com, accessed 16 July 2019
  8. Pesikta Rabbati (n.d.). Meir Ish Shalom of Vienna (ed.). Midrash Pesikta Rabbati (in Hebrew). Israel: not identified. p. 118a (Ten commandments - Third section). OCLC 249274973. (reprinted from 1880 edition)
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