imported>Rangasyd: removed Category:Former synagogues; added Category:Former synagogues in the Middle East using HotCat

2024-10-25T10:27:10Z

removed Category:Former synagogues; added Category:Former synagogues in the Middle East using HotCat

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{{Short description|Former ancients synagogue in West Bank, Palestine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Wadi Qelt Synagogue
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| religious_affiliation = [[Judaism]] {{small|(former)}}
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| organisational_status = {{ubl|[[Historic synagogues|Ancient synagogue]]|[[Archeological site]]}}
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| functional_status = '''Ruins'''
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| location = Tulul Abu al-'Alayiq in [[Wadi Qelt]], site of the [[Hasmonean royal winter palaces]], outside [[Jericho]], [[West Bank]]
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| country = [[State of Palestine]]
| map_type = West Bank
| map_size = 250
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| map_relief = 1
| map_caption = Location of the former ancient synagogue in the [[West Bank]]
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| coordinates = {{coord|31.844316|35.414257|type:landmark_region:PS|format=dms|display=it}}
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| established = [[Hasmonean]]-period
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{{Infobox ancient site
| embed = yes
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| archaeologists= [[Ehud Netzer]]
| condition = Ruin; entire site under constant degradation since excavation
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}}
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}}
The '''Wadi Qelt Synagogue''' is claimed to be a former [[Historic synagogues|ancient]] [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[synagogue]] and [[archeological site]], located in [[Wadi Qelt]], outside [[Jericho]], in the [[West Bank]], in the [[State of Palestine]]. The site is part of the [[Hasmonean royal winter palaces|royal winter palace]] complex built by the Hasmoneans in the warm desert oasis of Jericho, west of the town.

According to [[Ehud Netzer]], the excavator and [[archaeologist]] of the ruins,<ref name=A/> the former building was identified as a [[Hasmonean]]-period synagogue; however, the claim of the ruins being a synagogue have been disputed.<ref name=Stacey/><ref name=Japp/> The ruins date from between 70 and 50 [[Common Era|BCE]], and if the former building did serve as a synagogue, it would be one of the [[Oldest synagogues in the World|oldest synagogues]] known.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pohick.org/sts/jericho.html |title=Oldest Synagogue Found in Israel |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=March 29, 1998 |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924074934/http://www.pohick.org/sts/jericho.html |archive-date=2015-09-24 }}</ref><ref name=A>{{cite journal |url=http://www.archaeology.org/9807/newsbriefs/israel.html |title=Israel's Oldest Synagogue |journal=Archaeology |volume=51 |number=4 |date=July 1998 |author=Harrington, Spencer P. M. }}</ref><ref name=Netzer>{{cite journal |author=Netzer, Ehud |author-link=Ehud Netzer |title=A Synagogue from the Hasmonean Period Recently Exposed in the Western Plain of Jericho |journal=[[Israel Exploration Journal]] |number=49 |year=1999 |pages=203–21 |issn= }}</ref>

== History ==
The synagogue was a modest building of stone and sun-baked brick. It included a [[Mikveh|ritual bath]] and a small courtyard surrounded by seven or eight rooms with a rectangular main hall measuring {{cvt|53|by|37|ft|m|order=flip}}. The hall was bordered by a colonnade, the platform of which was nearly two feet above the floor of the nave. This provided seating for nearly 70 people. In the northeastern corner, Netzer found a niche that may have served as a [[Torah Ark]]. A lower compartment, mostly intact, is thought to have possibly functioned as a ''[[genizah]]'' or storage compartment where old or unused scrolls were stored. Adjacent to the western side of the main hall was a [[triclinium]], or dining hall, where public meals could be held, and a small, triangular space that may have been used as a kitchen. The triclinium was added some years after the main hall was built. Diners reclined, Roman style, on benches against three walls of the chamber while eating. The floors and walls were covered with white plaster.<ref name=A/>

=== Controversy ===
Despite the excavator's identification of a building among the Hasmonean palatial complex near [[Wadi Qelt]] as a synagogue,<ref name=Netzer/> the matter is far from conclusive. In fact, few scholars seriously consider this suggestion in discussions of [[Second Temple period]] synagogues, though even fewer have openly challenged the identification in print.<ref name=Stacey>{{cite web |author=Stacey, David |url=https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/Hasmonean_Jericho |title=Was There a Synagogue in Hasmonean Jericho? |work=bibleinterp.arizona.edu |date= |access-date= }}</ref><ref name=Japp>{{cite journal |last1=Japp |first1=Sarah |last2=Schwarzer |first2=Holger |title=Synagoge, Banketthaus oder Wohngebäude? |trans-title=Synagogue, banquet house, or residential building? |pages=277–88 |journal=Antike Welt |publisher=Philipp von Zabern |location=Mainz |number=3 |lang=de |year=2002 |via=academia.edu |url-access=registration |url=https://www.academia.edu/43386654 |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
{{stack|{{portal|Judaism|Palestine}}}}
* [[Ancient synagogues in Israel]]
* [[History of the Jews in Palestine]]
* [[List of oldest synagogues]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Ancient synagogues|state=collapsed}}
{{Synagogues in the State of Palestine}}

[[Category:1st-century BC establishments in the Hasmonean Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ancient synagogues in the Land of Israel]]
[[Category:Archaeological controversies]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in the West Bank]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Jericho]]

[[Category:Former synagogues in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Synagogues in the West Bank]]

Wadi Qelt Synagogue - Revision history

imported>Rangasyd: removed Category:Former synagogues; added Category:Former synagogues in the Middle East using HotCat