Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Ancient Synagogues, Churches and Mosques in Palestine
Semester II, 2006-2007, I Hour (TTh, 10:30-11:50am)
AE0144
Prof. Katharina Galor
Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Room 308, 70 Waterman St
e-mail: [email protected]
Office hours: We: 2-4 pm
Classroom: Room 203, 70 Waterman Street
Course description
This course will review the discoveries and related scholarship of ancient Synagogues, Churches and Mosques in ancient Palestine. It will focus on their architectural and decorational, as well as their spiritual and religious characteristics, and examine how those institutions influenced each other throughout their history of development.
Requirements
During each meeting there will be a lecture on a selected topic. The lectures will be illustrated with slides and handouts. Short oral presentations by the students and discussions will follow each lecture. A final term paper (10 pages for undergraduates, 20 pages for graduates) presented at the end of the semester will be worth 40% of the final grade, the oral presentations another 40%, and participation in discussions will be worth 20%.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
1. Lecture: Introduction
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
2. Lecture: The Origins of the Synagogue: Literary and Archaeological Evidence
Thursday, February 1, 2007
3. Discussion
Readings:
a) Ma’oz, Z.: “the Synagogue of Gamla and the Typology of Second-Temple Synagogues”, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, Jerusalem (1981) 35-41.
b) Chiat, M.J.: “First-Century Synagogue Architecture: Methodological Problems”, in Ancient Synagogues. The State of Research, Chico, California (1981) 49-60, or
c) Levine, L.I.: “The Second Temple Synagogue. The Formative Years”, in The Synagogue in Late Antiquity (1987) 7-31.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
4. Lecture: Capernaum: the Problem of Chronology, Plan and Space Division
Thursday, February 8, 2007
5. Discussion
Readings:
a) Loffreda, S.: “The Late Chronology of the Synagogue of Capernaum”, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed (1981) 52-56.
And
Foerster, G.: “Notes on Recent Excavations at Capernaum”, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed (1981) 57-59.
And
Avi-Yonah, M.: “Some Comments on the Capernaum Excavations”, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed (1981) 60-62.
b) Groh, D.E.: “The Stratigraphic Chronology of the Galilean Synagogue from the Early Roman Period Through the Early Byzantine Period (ca. 420 C.E.)”, in Ancient Synagogues. Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery (1995) 51-69.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
6. Discussion
Readings:
a) Brooten, B.J.: Did the Ancient Synagogue have a Women’s Gallery or a Separate Women’s Section”, in Women Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue, Brown University. Brown Judaic Studies 36 (1982) 104-138.
b) Magness, J.: The Chronology of Capernaum in the Early Islamic Period, by Jodi Magness, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1997: 481-486.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
7. Lecture: Figurative Art in Ancient Synagogues
Thursday, February 22, 2007 8. Discussion
Readings:
a) Ovadiah, A.: “Art of the Ancient Synagogues in Israel”, in Ancient Synagogues. Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery, Leiden, New York, Köln (1995) 301-318.
b) Shanks, H.: “Pagan Symbols in Synagogue Art”, in Judaism in Stone (1979) 151-161.
c) Hachlili, R.: “The Zodiac in Ancient Jewish Art: Representation and Significance”, in BASORR 228 (1977) 61-77.
d) Wilkinson, J.: “The Beit Alpha Synagogue Mosaic: Towards an Interpretation”, in JJA 5 (1978) 16-28.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
9. Lecture: Regionalism in Synagogue Architectural Types and Decoration
Thursday, March 1, 2007
10. Discussion
Readings:
a) Meyers, E.M.: “Galilean Regionalism as a factor in Historical Reconstruction”, in BASORR 221 (1976) 93-101.
b) Ma’oz, Z.: “the Art and Architecture of the Synagogues of the Golan”, in Ancient Synagogues Revealed, Jerusalem (1981) 98-115. c) Tsafrir, Y.: “The synagogues at Capernaum and Meroth and the dating of the Galilean synagogue”, in JRA 14 (1995) 1-21.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
11. Lecture: Diaspora Synagogues
Thursday, March 8, 2007
12. Discussion
Readings:
a) Appelbaum, S., The Organization of the Jewish Communities in the Diaspora, in The Jewish People in the First Century: Historical Geography, Political History, Social, Cultural, and Religious Life and Institutions, (eds.) Safrai, S. and Stern, M., Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum, 1, Assen, Maastricht and Philadelphia, 1974: 464-503.
b) Levine, L., Diaspora Synagogues, in The Ancient Synagogue. The First Thousand Years, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005: 250-309.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
13. Lecture: From a Jewish House of Worship to a Christian House of Worship
Thursday, March 15, 2007
14. Discussion
Readings:
a) Fine, S.: “From Meeting House to Sacred Realm. Holiness and the Ancient Synagogue,” in Sacred Realm. The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World (ed.) S. Fine, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press and Yeshiva University Museum, 1996: 21-47.
b) Meyers, E.M.: “Early Judaism and Christianity in the Light of Archaeology”, in BA 51 (1988) 69-79.
c) Dauphin, C.: “Jewish and Christian Communities in the Roman and Byzantine Gaulanitis: a Study of Evidence from Archaeological Surveys”, in PEQ 114 (1982) 223-24.
d) Ma’oz, Z.: “Comments on Jewish and Christian Communities in Byzantine Palestine”, in PEQ 117 (1985) 59-68.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
15. Lecture: The Development of Ecclesiastical Architecture
Thursday, March 22, 2007
16. Discussion
Readings:
a) Wilkinson, J: “Christian Worship in the Byzantine Period”, in Ancient Churches Revealed, Jerusalem (1993) 1-16.
b) Hoppe, L.J.: “The Church. Preliminary Issues”, in The Synagogues and Churches of Ancient Palestine, Collegeville, Minnesota (1994) 6-66.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
17. Lecture: Byzantine Churches
Thursday, April 5, 2007
18. Discussion
Readings:
a) Dauphin, C.: “Dora-dor: A Station for Pilgrims in the Byzantine Period on Their Way to Jerusalem”, in Ancient Churches Revealed, Jerusalem (1993) 90-97.
b) Tsafrir, Y.: “Excavations at Rehovot in the Negev, vol. I: The Northern Church”, in Qedem 25, Jerusalem (1988) 22-77.
c) Pixner, B.: “The Miracle Church at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee”, in BA 48.4 (1985) 196-206.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
19. Lecture: Byzantine Monasteries
Thursday, April 12, 2007
20. Discussion
Readings:
a) Magen, Y. and Talgam, R.: “The Monastery of St. Martyrius at Ma’ale Adummim (Khirbet el-Murassas) and its Mosaics”, in Christian Archaeology in the Holy Land. New Discoveries. Essays in Honour of Virgilio C. Corbo, OFM, Jerusalem (1990) 91-152.
b) Patrich, J.: Chapels and Hermitages of St. Sabas’ Monastery”, in Ancient Churches Revealed, Jerusalem (1993) 233-243.
c) Tzaferis, V.: “The Excavations of Kursi – Gergesa”, in Atiqot (English Series) 16, Jerusalem (1984) 1-48.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
21. Lecture: The Origins of Muslim Religious Architecture and the Role of al-Haram al-Sharif
Thursday, April 19, 2007 22. Discussion
Readings:
a) Rosen-Ayalon, M.: The Early Islamic Monuments of al-Haram al-Sharif: An Iconographic Study, Qedem 28 (1989) 46-69.
b) Chen, D.: “The Design of the Dome of the Rock”, in PEQ 65 (1980) 41-50.
c) Hamilton, R.W.: “Once Again the Aqsa”, in J. Raby and J. Johns (eds.), Bayt al-Maqdis- Abd al-Malik’s Jerusalem, I, Oxford (1992) 141-144.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Term Paper Presentations
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Term Paper Presentations
