Invention of the First-Century Synagogue

Matassa, Lidia D.; Silverman, Jason M. (EDT); Watson, Murray (EDT)

ISBN 10: 1628372184 / ISBN 13: 9781628372182

Published by SBL Press, 2018

About this Item

Unread book in perfect condition.

Seller Inventory # 33214150

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Invention of the First-Century Synagogue
• Publisher: SBL Press
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1628372184
• ISBN 13: 9781628372182
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

This work critically reevaluates the scholarship surrounding the identification of first-century synagogues at five key sites: Delos, Jericho, Herodium, Masada, and Gamla. These sites are consistently used in modern scholarship as comparators for all other early synagogues. Matassa reviews the scholarly discourse concerning each site, inspects each site, and thoroughly examines the excavation reports. Through close inspection of the material evidence she uncovers misunderstandings of the site remains and concludes that excavators incorrectly identified synagogues at Delos, Jericho, Masada, and Herodium. In the case of Gamla, however, the identification may be correct.

About the Author

Lidia D. Matassa was an independent scholar and founding president of the Irish Association for the Study of the Ancient Near East. She participated in a number of excavations in Israel and helped organize multiple interdisciplinary conferences in Dublin. She coedited Text, Theology, and Trowel: Recent Research into the Hebrew Bible (2011). Matassa passed away suddenly in January 2016.