The object
A limestone block, carved on its top and all four sides, found in the centre of the main hall of the first-century synagogue at Magdala. Its front shows a seven-branched menorah on a base between two jars.
Discovery
The synagogue was found in 2009 when the Israel Antiquities Authority excavated the site before construction of a pilgrim centre. The excavation was directed by Dina Avshalom-Gorni and Arfan Najar, and further seasons have since uncovered much of the surrounding town.
The carving
Besides the menorah, the stone bears a rosette on its top, arches and columns on its sides, and on its back a design that some read as wheels of fire. The art historian Rina Talgam has argued that the carving represents the Temple in Jerusalem, from the outer courts to the Holy of Holies. Its exact purpose is unknown; one suggestion is that it served as a table on which scrolls were laid for reading.
The Gospels
The Gospels describe Jesus teaching in the synagogues of Galilee:
Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.
Among the women who travelled with him, Luke names one from this town:
and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out;
What it establishes
That a synagogue with a richly carved stone stood at Magdala in Jesus’ lifetime, that Galilean Jews of his day held the Temple at the centre of their worship, and what the menorah looked like to someone who could have seen it.
Open questions
The stone’s function and the meaning of several of its motifs are debated. No record survives of who taught in this synagogue, and the site shows the kind of building in which Jesus taught, not a particular visit.
Where it is now
A replica stands in the excavated synagogue at Magdala; the original is held by the Israel Antiquities Authority.
