• from Chat GPT 5.1, 23 November 2025
• sources: Gideon Foerster in Stern et. al. (1993 v.2); Baramki (1936)

In the course of digging trenches for planting banana trees near Tell es-Sultan a mosaic pavement was discovered, and the surrounding area was cleared by the Department of Antiquities. The site contains the foundations and floor of a Jewish synagogue orientated approximately towards Jerusalem, indicating the presence of a Jewish community in the Byzantine period, although it is uncertain whether this settlement is identical with Byzantine Jericho. The synagogue consists of an apse, a central nave, and two lateral aisles, with a single entrance approached by a step. The nave is separated from the aisles by two parallel rows of piers and responds which probably carried arches. The pavement includes geometric fields, a guilloche border, plant designs, and a six-line Aramaic inscription enclosed in a rectangular panel. Additional motifs include a representation of the Ark of the Law resting on four supports and surmounted by a shell-pattern niche, a circular medallion with a menorah, lulab, and shofar, and the Hebrew phrase “Peace be upon Israel.” Finds include glass vessels, bronze lamps, and objects dating to the fifth to seventh centuries CE, while Early Arab coins indicate use into the eighth century.