The Synagogue of Capharnaum

The Synagogue of Capharnaum. . , The synagogue is made up of four units, namely the prayer hall, the eastern courtyard, the southern porch, and a side-room near the northwestern corner of the prayer hall., The prayer hall, with the façade toward Jerusalem, is rectangular in ground plan. A stylobate divides the spacious central nave from the aisles. Stone benches were set along the eastern and western aisles. The focal point of the prayer hall was in the Jerusalem-oriented wall of the central nave., The trapezoidal shape of the court was dictated by the line of the houses along the main north-south street of the town. Two staircases gave access to the unroofed porch., Another staircase was on the northeastern corner of the courtyard. The synagogue was built almost entirely with limestone blocks. The decorative elements (lintels, cornices, capitals etc.) leave the visitors spellbound. The synagogue is not earlier than the end of the fourth century AD according the Franciscan archaeologists. Other archaeologists prefer a date in the late third century AD., Under the monumental synagogue a basalt-stone wall was found, which is interpreted by the excavators as the remains of an earlier synagogue, either of the time of Jesus (according to Corbo) or of a later date. A first century AD stone pavement, found under the artificial podium of the monumental synagogue in the central area of the prayer hall, seems to belong to the synagogue built by a Roman centurion (Lc 7:5). Jesus visited several times that synagogue. The Gospel of John relates the speech of Jesus on the Bread of Life to that synagogue (John 6:59)., Under the side aisles of the prayer hall and in the area of the courtyard several remains of houses were found, with pottery of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.