Historic synagogues


Historic synagogues are synagogues that date back to ancient or medieval times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Most of the older sites covered below are purely archaeological sites, with evidence recovered by excavation, and no sign of use as a synagogue in recent centuries. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others were converted into churches and mosques or used for other purposes.

History

Evidence of synagogues from the 3rd century BC was discovered on Elephantine island. The findings consist of two synagogue dedication inscription stones and a reference to a synagogue in an Elephantine letter dated to 218 BC.
What some consider to be the oldest synagogue building uncovered by archaeologists is the Delos Synagogue, a possible Samaritan synagogue dating from at 150 to 128 BC or earlier on the island of Delos, Greece. However, it is uncertain if the building is actually a synagogue and that designation is generally considered untenable.
An excavated structure known as the Jericho synagogue has been cited as the oldest synagogue in the Holy Land, although whether the remains are of a synagogue is unclear. It was built between 70 and 50 BC as part of a Herodian winter palace complex near Jericho.
file:El_Ghriba_Synagogue%2C_Djerba%2C_Tunisia%2C_Africa_%28la_ghariba%29.jpg|thumb|El Ghriba Synagogue with its distinctive wall tiles imitating the qallalin type in colors and patterns
El Ghriba Synagogue in Djerba, now in Tunisia, is the oldest synagogue in Africa, and Djerba Island was declared a World Heritage Site in 2023. It was the site of pilgrimage as it was said to have been built after the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem by refugees who brought a fragment of the Temple's door, hence its local name as "the Door". Its wall tiles are colored similar to the prestigious qallalin tiles.
Two claimants as the oldest synagogue structures still standing are the Old Synagogue in Erfurt, Germany, which was built and the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca in Toledo, Spain, which was built in 1190. However, neither has been used as a synagogue for centuries.
The oldest active synagogue in Europe is the Old New Synagogue of Prague in the Czech Republic, built in the 1270s. The Ben Ezra Synagogue of Cairo is the longest-serving synagogue in the world, having continuously served as one from 1025 until the mid-20th century. Owing to the Jewish exodus from the Muslim world, the building is no longer used as a synagogue. It has been renovated and is now a museum.

By country

Africa

Algeria

  • Synagogue of Tlemcen was built around 1392. When Rabbi Ephraim Alnaqua, a Spanish refugee who was the son of the author of Menorath HaMaor, settled in Agadir, he obtained permission for Jews to settle in the city of Tlemcen, where he built a synagogue.

    Egypt

Stone synagogue dedication inscriptions stones found in middle and lower Egypt, and dating from the 3rd century BC, are the oldest synagogue fragments found anywhere in the World.
The Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Old Cairo, occupied at least three buildings in its history, which probably goes back to pre-Islamic times. There have been many major and minor renovations. The current building dates from the 1890s; due to the lack of a local Jewish community it now functions as a Jewish museum. The Cairo genizah, found in the rafters of an outhouse in the 19th century is a unique and much-studied collection of medieval documents, and gives good evidence that the synagogue predates 882 at the least.

Libya

  • Slat Abn Shaif Synagogue, in Zliten, Libya, was built around 1060 and destroyed in the 1980s.

    Morocco

  • The Al Fassiyine Synagogue in Fes, Morocco, is thought to have been built in the 13th century AD.
  • The Adobe Synagogue in Arazan is over 800 years old.

    South Africa

  • The Gardens Shul, established 1841, is the oldest congregation in South Africa. Its 1863 building, which is still standing, may be the oldest synagogue building in the country. Rabbi Osher Feldman is the Rabbi of the Gardens Shul.

    Tunisia

  • El Ghriba synagogue, according to legend, the construction of the synagogue goes back to the High Priests' escape following the destruction of Solomon's Temple by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II in the year 586 BC. The High Priests carried with them a door and a stone of the destroyed Temple. Thus the synagogue links the Jewish diaspora to the "sole sanctuary of Judaism". In modern times, the local Jews are distinguished by their dress, which includes a black band around their pants, which signifies the destruction of the Temple.

    Asia

Afghanistan

  • In Herat, Afghanistan, the Yu Aw Synagogue still stands. There is no definitive date for the synagogue.

    India

The oldest of India's synagogue buildings can be found in the state of Kerala, where synagogue construction began during the medieval period. Whereas Kerala's first Jewish houses of prayer said to be from the eleventh through the 13th centuries perished long ago as a consequence of natural disasters, enemy attacks, or the abandonment of buildings when congregations shifted. These extant synagogues, though altered over time, include not only the oldest found on the Indian subcontinent but in the British Commonwealth.
The consensus among historians based on a compilation of limited recorded history and a mélange of oral narratives is that first synagogues in Kerala were not built until the medieval period. Various Kerala Jews and the scholars who have studied the community believe that the earliest synagogues in the region date to the early 11th century. According to a narrative, a Kerala Jew by the name of Joseph Rabban who accepted on behalf of his community copper plates granting the local Jews a set of privileges by the Hindu King Bhaskara Ravi Varman was also given wood by his Highness for the erection of a synagogue around 1000. While no physical evidence of this and any other similar period building survives, study of the literature, Jewish folksongs, and narratives supports the notion that synagogues likely stood in Malabar Coast towns, places now within the modern-day State of Kerala, from this epoch. A portion of these medieval-period buildings perished when the Kerala Jews had to leave them behind under the threat of persecution by the Moors and the Portuguese or as a result of natural disasters. The balance was rebuilt as a consequence of naturally occurring or intentionally set fires, modernization efforts, or assorted other variables.
  • The Kochangadi Synagogue in Kochi in the Kerala, built by the Malabar Jews. It was destroyed by Tipu Sultan in 1789 AD and was never rebuilt. An inscription tablet from this synagogue is the oldest relic from any synagogue in India.
  • The Paravur Synagogue in Paravur in Kochi, Kerala, built by the Malabari Jews, operating as a Kerala Jews' Lifestyle Museum, the present 1616 AD structure was built on top of an older structure whose foundation remains were unearthed and are kept on display.
  • The Paradesi Synagogue in Kochi, Kerala. It is the oldest Jewish synagogue in India that is still in active use and the most complete, although there are even older ones still existing but not in active use anymore. The synagogue belongs to the Paradesi Jews.

    Iraq

One of the oldest synagogues in history was the Great Synagogue of Baghdad, also known as the Shaf ve’Yativ Synagogue, located in one of the old quarters of Baghdad. The building is traditionally believed to stand on the site of an ancient synagogue built by King Jeconiah, who was exiled from the Kingdom of Judah to Babylon in 597 BCE. It is said that material gathered from the ruins of the Temple in Jerusalem was used in its construction, and supposedly accommodated approximately 20,000 worshippers. Due to its significance, other synagogues in Iraq followed in its architectural form. The synagogue has been rebuilt several times and now serves as a Jewish museum. Another old synagogue is a part of the Tomb of Joshua the High Priest also in Baghdad, a Jewish site that entombs Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the first High Priest after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity.
During the Iraq War, a rabbi in the American army found an abandoned, dilapidated synagogue near Mosul dating back to the 13th century. It is located northeast of Mosul, across the Tigris River, in a city called Nineveh, the city to which the prophet Jonah was sent to preach repentance. The Nineveh Synagogue was constructed by Daud Ibn Hodaya al-Daudi, Exilarch of Mosul. There is record of a second synagogue in Mosul, as early as 990, when the Gaon of Sura, Semah ibn Yitzhak, mentions "Sahl Aluf ibn Aluf our representative in Mosul", in 1170 Benjamin of Tudela notes that there are about 7,000 Jews in Mosul. In later years, when Petachiah of Regensburg visited Mosul, Nineveh was in ruins.

Israel and Palestinian territories

  • "Wadi Qelt Synagogue" at Tulul Abu el-Alayiq, Jericho, 70–50 BC ; excavated and identified by Ehud Netzer; contested.
  • Herodium – a synagogue from the 1st century AD was discovered in Herod's palace fortress at Herodium.
  • Masada – the ruins of the small synagogue at the top of Masada is one of the most well-documented Second Temple Period synagogues.
  • Migdal Synagogue was discovered in 2009. One of the unique features of this synagogue, which is located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, in Magdala, is an intricately carved stone block that was found in the center of the main room. Another synagogue dating to the same period was discovered in the city in 2021.
  • Modi'in – a synagogue dating to the second century BC was discovered between Modi'in and Latrun.
  • Qiryat Sefer/Modi'in Illit synagogue – Israeli archaeologist Yitzhak Magen claimed in 1995 to have excavated a small first-century BC synagogue at Modi'in Illit/Qiryat Sefer, at a site known in Arabic as Khirbet Badd ‘Isa.
Other ancient post-70 AD synagogues are:
  • The excavated Shalom Al Yisrael Synagogue in Jericho dates to the late 6th or early 7th century, and is frequented on the beginning of every Hebrew calendar month for prayers and services.
  • A large 6th-century synagogue with a mosaic tile floor depicting King David was discovered in Gaza. An inscription states that the floor was donated in 508–509 AD by two merchant brothers.
  • Jerusalem – there are synagogues in the Old City of Jerusalem built over the ruins of far older synagogues, which were destroyed by non-Jewish rulers of the city.
  • * The Karaite Synagogue in Jerusalem is the oldest of Jerusalem's active synagogues, having been built in the 8th century. It was destroyed by the Crusaders in 1099 and Jews were not allowed to live in the city for 50 years. In 1187, Saladin restored the site to the Karaite Jews, who promptly rebuilt the synagogue. It has been active continuously since its foundation, except during the Crusades and Jordanian rule of the city. In 1967, the Israeli government returned the synagogue to the Karaite community, who finished renovating it in 1982.