Location: Off Route 71, 11 km (7 mi) West of Beth Shean Map
Tel. (04) 653 2004
Open: 8am- 4pm daily
Winter: 8am- 3pm daily
Beth Alpha Synagogue National Park (Hebrew: בֵּית אַלְפָא) is an
ancient synagogue from the 6th century AD that was discovered in
1929 in what is now Israel. It is located on the northern side at
the foot of Mount Gilboa in the Bet She'an Valley and is
characterized by its well-preserved mosaics and inscriptions. About
8 km away is Tell el-Hösn. The synagogue was probably destroyed in
an earthquake in 749 AD and was not rebuilt for unknown reasons. In
1922, Kibbutz Beit Alfa was founded here in the historical area
southeast of the ancient synagogue.
Today it is open to
tourists as Bet Alpha Synagogue National Park and is managed by the
Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
In December 1928, young people from the neighboring Kibbutz Chefziba, founded in 1922, came across a mosaic floor with Hebrew inscriptions while laying an irrigation canal. They belonged to the socialist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair. Their first, anti-religious impulse was to fill in the find; their second was that it could be a historically and politically significant archaeological monument. They therefore reported their find to the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Excavations at the site began in January 1929 and lasted seven weeks. The team, led by archaeologist Eleazar Sukenik, began by marking the outer walls and then uncovered the floor with the various mosaics. The excavation of the synagogue at Beit Alpha is considered the "first moment of popular enthusiasm for Jewish archaeology in the new Yishuv"; What was important was less that it was a religious building than the "manifestation of former Jewish presence in the same place."
The floor area of the synagogue is 14.20 × 27.70 meters and
consists of a hall in the style of a basilica with a main aisle and two
side aisles. The building also has an inner courtyard, a vestibule with
columns (narthex) and most likely a gallery for the female members of
the community. The apse faces south towards Jerusalem. The walls are
made of uncut limestone that was plastered on the inside. Based on the
discovery of roof tiles, it is assumed that the building had a gable
roof.
In the 1960s, the remains of some houses were found near
the synagogue, which indicate that the synagogue was part of a Jewish
settlement.
There were three entrance doors in the north wall. To the south of the main hall there was a platform on which the Torah shrine stood. On the west side there was a small side room, the dimensions of which could no longer be determined to the north. The anteroom adjoining the main hall to the north was 2.57 m long and there were benches in the west and east parts of the anteroom. The courtyard was 9.65 m long and there was probably a water basin in the middle for ritual purification. The courtyard could be entered through a door in the west. The special feature of this synagogue is the well-preserved floor mosaics.
The entire floor of the building is covered with mosaics. The
courtyard, side aisles and narthex are decorated with simple geometric
patterns, and in the main aisle there is also a three-part, objective
picture structure. There are three panels from north to south, i.e. in
the direction of entry and crossing the area:
a Torah shrine with two
seven-branched candlesticks (menorah),
a zodiac (zodiac) and
the
scene of the sacrifice of Isaac.
The simple but impressive style
of the mosaics represents a folk art that must have developed in Galilee
and the mosaics are one of the best preserved examples of Jewish art in
the Byzantine era. There are two inscriptions in the entrance area of
the synagogue. The Aramaic one dates the building to the reign of
Justin I, the second, Greek, gives the names of the mosaicists, Marianos
and his son Aninas.
The first, narrow, panel shows a Torah shrine in the middle with closed doors and a gable roof. On the lintel of the Torah shrine are three vases and at the two ends there are two horns. A lamp hangs down from the roof gable, which may symbolize the eternal light. Underneath is a shell. To the left and right of the Torah shrine are two large birds of unknown species and below them are two lions. Next to the birds and above the lions are a menorah and other ritual objects such as a shofar, ethrog, lulav and incense shovels.
The second, largest, field with the zodiac is set in a square frame
with the four seasons in the form of angels, each in a corner. In the
center of the circle is the personified sun in a chariot drawn by four
horses (sun chariot). In the background you can see the moon and stars
giving way to the rising sun.
The outer circle shows the twelve
signs of the zodiac. To the right of the youth in the inner circle are
the signs of the spring months (viewed counterclockwise): Aries, Taurus
and Gemini. This is followed by Cancer, Leo and Virgo for the summer
months. The autumn months are represented by Libra, Scorpio and
Sagittarius, the winter months by Capricorn, Aquarius and finally
Pisces.
In the four corners there are winged angels as
personifications of the four seasons. However, spring is in the zodiac
sign for summer, followed (anticlockwise) by summer, autumn and winter.
The images are all in frontal view and very colorful and expressive.
The third, narrow field shows the biblical story of the sacrifice of Isaac. Viewed from the left, two men with a saddled donkey can be seen. This is followed by a ram tied to a tree. The hand visible above the tree represents God's messenger. Abraham is shown particularly large in the picture and is the main figure. In his right hand he holds a knife and in his left his son Isaac, whose hands are tied together and who is shown relatively small. The flames are already blazing on the altar on the right edge of the picture. The inscriptions near Abraham and Isaac refer to these people.
The outer frame of the central mosaic shows various motifs. On the
south side, a bird with long red legs, a hen with chicks and a
pomegranate tree.
On the east: a basket filled with fruit, a fox,
a colored pheasant, a man holding a bird in his hand. The next motif is
destroyed. This is followed by the motif of a hare and three other
unidentified objects in yellow and brown. After this, another cat-like
animal and a bird follow.
The north side frame border shows a
lion in the east and an ox in the west (guardian animals?). In between
there are two inscriptions in Aramaic (the larger inscription) and
Greek. From the first two lines of the inscription in Aramaic it can be
deduced that the synagogue was built during the reign of an emperor
named Justin, probably Justin I (518–527). The Greek inscription, which
has been completely preserved, praises the craftsmen who built the
synagogue (translation uncertain): May the craftsmen, Marianos and his
son Aninas, who carried out this work be remembered.
On the
western part of the frame there are motifs such as grapes, vases and
fruit.