From the Magdala Stone to the Syriac Bema: Mutual Influences between the Liturgical Space in the Early Synagogue and Church (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 218)

Book info: From the Magdala Stone to the Syriac Bema: Mutual Influences between the Liturgical Space in the Early Synagogue and Church (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 218) (Hardcover, 536 pages) – Brill, 2024. Language: English.

This book sheds light on the reciprocal relations between liturgical performance and the physical spaces in which they took place in synagogues and churches in antiquity. The kernel of the manuscript revolves around a decorated stone that was found during the excavations of a synagogue dated to the first century CE at Magdala on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The book displays how this important archaeological discovery radically transforms our understanding of the changes in the shape of the liturgical space and the liturgical furniture in the places of assembly of the two sister faiths, Judaism and Christianity. Editorial Reviews About the Author Rina Talgam is professor of art history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has published widely on the art of the Middle East in Late Antiquity. Her books include: The Stylistic Origins of Umayyad Sculpture and Architectural Decoration (2004) and Mosaics of Faith: Floors of Pagan, Jews, Christians, Samaritans and Muslims in the Holy Land (2014).

Dina Avshalom Gorni worked as Senior Field and Research Archaeologist in the Israel Antiquities Authority, from 1991 to 2016. She served as the District Archaeologist of the Eastern Galilee, Golan Heights and Valleys. She co-directed the Magdala synagogue excavations.

Arfan Najar works as a Senior Field Archaeologist in the Israel Antiquities Authority. He was a field supervisor in the excavations at Nysa-Scythopolis (Bet She’an), Tiberias and Megiddo (Kefar ʿOthnay). He co-directed the Magdala synagogue excavations.