Transliterated Name | Source | Name |
---|---|---|
Khirbet Shema | ||
Tekoa of Galilee |
Khirbet Shema' is located in the Upper Galilee, 760 m above sea level, on a foothill of Mount Meiron, opposite the ancient settlement of Meiron (map reference 1914.2647). It has been known since medieval times as the burial place of Shammai, the contemporary of Hillel the Elder, his opponent. The ruin has been identified with Tekoa of Galilee by S. Klein and M. Avi-Yonah. The expedition that excavated at the site from 1970 to 1972, under the auspices of the American Schools of Oriental Research, directed by E. M. Meyers, found no explicit evidence to support or contradict this theory.
Excavation of the Great Mausoleum, which is still venerated as a holy place by pious pilgrims, produced no evidence for dating, as its foundations were completely disturbed. Other tombs excavated in its vicinity indicated secondary burial to be the dominant mode of inhumation in a variety of tomb types: loculi, grave-type arcosolia, and variations and mixtures thereof. Coins and pottery indicate the main period of use to have been the fourth century CE, contemporary with the settlement.
Although excavators Meyers, Kraabel, and Strange (1976) identified two earthquake events (
~306 CE Eusebius' Martyr Quake and
419 CE Monaxius and Plinta Quake) which destroyed a Synagogue I and then a Synagogue II at
Khirbet Shema, subsequent authors (
e.g. Russell, 1980 and
Magness, 1997) re-examined their chronology and redated the earthquake evidence.
Russell (1980) redated the two earthquake events to the northern 363 CE Cyril Quake
and the 419 CE Monaxius and Plinta Quake
while Magness (1997)
concluded that there was no solid evidence for the existence of a Synagogue I on the site and evidence for an earthquake event in ~306 CE was lacking. She posited that Synagogue II was
constructed in the late 4th to early 5th century CE and concluded that there was no solid evidence for the 419 CE (or 363 CE) earthquake as well.
In Magness (1997) interpretation of the
evidence, she suggested that the site had been abandoned when an earthquake brought down Synagogue II sometime before the 8th century CE.
Two sealed loci at the site provide a terminus post quem for the construction of Synagogue II.
The latest coin found within a Bema was dated to
337-341 AD during the rule of Constans. The bema was described as "absolutely
sealed by the stonework of the bema around and over it" where
"contamination by later intrusions is virtually impossible" (Meyers, Kraabel, and Strange 1976:34). A declivity in the northwest
corner of Synagogue II contained fill which was
"sealed beneath more than a meter of debris, including large fallen architectural members" (Meyers, Kraabel, and Strange 1976: 34).
Pottery within the fill below was described as homogeneous
Middle-Late Roman. At the lowest levels a coin from Gratian (who ruled from 367-383 AD)
was discovered.
Meyers, Kraabel, and Strange (1976) interpreted the construction above the declivity to be part of a remodel. If we consider that construction
above the declivity could also represent original construction,
the terminus post quem for the construction of Synagogue II is between 337 and 383 AD. It is conceivable that Synagogue II was constructed
over earthquake damaged remains of an earlier structure
due to the presence of "battered architectural fragments built into Synagogue II (including those identified as belonging to the "Torah shrine")
(Magness, 1997:216) however, as pointed out by
Magness (1997), the provenance of these battered elements is unknown. They could come from another building.
Nevertheless, this can be considered as possible archeoseismic evidence which
predates the construction of Synagogue II. As for the causative earthquake(s), the
~306 CE Eusebius' Martyr Quake
and the 363 CE Cyril Quake are both possibilities. Two other fills were examined
(east and west of the Stylobate wall) but neither were
sealed and neither added chronological precision to the construction of Synagogue II.
Although excavators Meyers, Kraabel, and Strange (1976) identified two earthquake events (
Eusebius' Martyr Quake of ~306 CE and
Monaxius and Plinta Quake of 419 CE) which destroyed a Synagogue I and then a Synagogue II at
Khirbet Shema, subsequent authors (
e.g. Russell, 1980 and
Magness, 1997) re-examined their chronology and redated the earthquake evidence.
Russell (1980) redated the two earthquake events to the northern 363 CE Cyril Quake
and the 419 CE Monaxius and Plinta Quake
while Magness (1997)
concluded that there was no solid evidence for the existence of a Synagogue I on the site and evidence for an earthquake event in ~306 CE was lacking.
She posited that Synagogue II was
constructed in the late 4th to early 5th century CE and concluded that there was no solid evidence for the 419 CE (or 363 CE) earthquake as well.
In Magness (1997) interpretation of the
evidence, she suggested that the site had been abandoned when an earthquake brought down Synagogue II sometime before the 8th century CE.
Meyers, Kraabel, and Strange (1976) archeoseismic evidence for the 2nd earthquake, the
419 CE Monaxius and Plinta Quake,
appears to be shaky. It is based on a lacuna of coin evidence
starting in 408 CE and lasting for the last three quarters of the 5th century CE.
They suggest this indicates abandonment of the site during this time period and in turn suggest that abandonment was likely due
to the 419 CE Monaxius and Plinta Quake.
Magness (1997: 217-218) provided
a number of reasons why she classifies this as a dangerous argument from silence
.
Magness, J. (1997). "Synagogue typology and earthquake chronology at Khirbet Shema ‘, Israel." Journal of field archaeology 24(2): 211-220.
Meyers, E. M., et al. (1972). "Archaeology and Rabbinic Tradition at Khirbet Shema: 1970 and 1971 Campaigns." The Biblical Archaeologist 35(1): 2-31.
Russell, K. W. (1980). "The Earthquake of May 19, A.D. 363." Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 238: 47-64.
Meyers, E., Kraabel, A., Strange, J. (1976). Ancient synagogue
excavations at Khirbet Shema, upper Galilee, Israel 1970-1972. [S.l.], American Schools of Oriental Research. -
can be borrowed with a free account at archive.org
Meyers, E., Kraabel, A., Strange, J. (1976). Ancient synagogue
excavations at Khirbet Shema, upper Galilee, Israel 1970-1972. [S.l.], American Schools of Oriental Research. - at JSTOR
E. M. Meyers eta!., Ancient Synagogue Excavations at Khirbet Shema ', Upper Galilee, Israel, 1970-1972 (AASOR 42), Durham, N.C. 1976.
Conder-Kitchener, SWP 1, 246-247
Guerin, Galilee 2, 433-434
D. G. Dalman, ZDPV29
(1906), 195-199
R.A. S. Macalister, PEQ4l (1909), 195-200
M. Avi-Yonah, The Macmillan Bible Atlas,
New York 1968, 141, 183
R. J. Bull, IEJ20 (1970), 232-234; id., AJA 75 (1971), 196-197
A. T. Kraabel
and E. M. Meyers, RB 78 (1971), 418-419; 79 (1972), 408-409; 80 (1973), 585-587
E. M. Meyers et. al.,
BA 35 (1972), 1-31; id., IEJ 22 (1972), 174-176; id., AASOR 42 (Reviews), LA 28 (1978), 267-276. ~
BASOR244(!98!), 75-79.~JNES40 (1981), 64-65
E. M. Meyers, BA 43 (1980), 97-108; id.,ASR, 70-
74; id., Archaeology 35/3 (1982), 51-58; id., City, Town and Countryside in the Early Byzantine Era (ed.
R. L. Hohlfelder), New York 1982, 115-130; id., BASOR 260 (1985), 61-69; id., The Synagogue in Late
Antiquity ( ed. L.l. Levine), Philadelphia 1987, 127-139; The Times Atlas of the Bible (ed. J. B. Pritchard),
London 1987, 152.
D. Milson, LA 41 (1991), 449–454
E. M. Meyers, ABD, 5, New York 1992, 1197–1198; id., OEANE, 5, New
York 1997, 26–27
E. Netzer, EI 25 (1996), 106*
J. Magness, JFA 24 (1997), 211–220; id., Judaism in Late
Antiquity III/4, Leiden 2001, 1–48
Z. Safrai, The Missing Century: Palestine in the 5th Century—Growth
and Decline (Palestine Antiqua N.S. 9), Leuven 1998 (index)
J. F. Strange, Judaism in Late Antiquity III/4,
Leiden 2001, 71–79; id., Continuity and Renewal: Jews and Judaism in Byzantine-Christian Palestine (ed.
L. I. Levine), Jerusalem 2004, 530–543.