I am pleased to inaugurate BAR’s “News from the Field” department with the first English publication of a most unusual find. It was recently discovered in the ancient city of Chorazim which overlooks the Sea of Galilee. The find is an almost unique pilaster whose function I will dare to suggest at the end of this note.
Chorazim lies about two miles northeast of Capernaum. The town is first mentioned in the New Testament (Matthew 11:20–24, Luke 10:12–16); in these passages, the town’s inhabitants, along with those of Capernaum and Beth Saida, are scorned for their sins.
From its archaeological remains, we know that Chorazim flourished as a Jewish town during the period of the Talmud (third-sixth centuries A.D.). In the center of the ancient town stood a synagogue, now in ruins. Many architectural elements—capitals, friezes and other carved pieces of stone—which clearly belong to the synagogue but whose exact provenance is unknown, lie scattered about. The synagogue was first discovered in the early years of this century by Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger,a in their well-known survey of ancient synagogues of the Galilee. Excavations in the town were carried out in the 1930s by the Hebrew University and the mandatory government’s Department of Antiquities.
All construction in the town, including the synagogue, was done with black basalt, the characteristic stone of the area. The synagogue decorations, carved in this very hard black stone, are among the finest and most beautiful found in Israel.
Further excavations were undertaken at Chorazim in 1962 under my direction 076on behalf of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums. Then, after a break of 18 years, excavations were resumed in 1900 with the additional participation of the National Parks Authority as part of the renewed development of the area around the Sea of Galilee.
It was in these latest excavations that our unusual pilaster was uncovered. It had been buried about ten meters northwest of the synagogue. At first it appeared square and unadorned and we thought it was another of the many building stones from the synagogue walls. Soon, however, the complete piece was uncovered and seen in all its glory—a square pilaster, worked on two sides (which indicates that the other two sides were not exposed to the viewer). It is just over five feet high and one and a half feet wide.
The carving on the pilaster is divided into three principal areas the base, with a simple profile; the center, a sort of double column, one side of which is square and the other round, and which is decorated with a zigzag pattern in high relief; and the upper section, a square capital decorated in relief with two rows of acanthus leaves and topped by a delicate row of interconnected diamonds.
No exact parallels to this type of decoration have been found; the closest example comes from the baths at Hisham’s Palace near Jericho, a structure that postdates the Chorazim synagogue by about 300 years.
There can be no doubt that this pilaster comes from the richly decorated synagogue, as have so many other beautifully carved fragments at the site.
It is very difficult to determine, however, to what part of the synagogue the pilaster belongs. It is too short to be part of one of the entrances. And it is too fancy (not to mention unusual) to be part of a window. Dare we suggest that it fit into an elaborate niche inside the synagogue, a niche that housed the Ark of the Law?b
I am pleased to inaugurate BAR’s “News from the Field” department with the first English publication of a most unusual find. It was recently discovered in the ancient city of Chorazim which overlooks the Sea of Galilee. The find is an almost unique pilaster whose function I will dare to suggest at the end of this note. Chorazim lies about two miles northeast of Capernaum. The town is first mentioned in the New Testament (Matthew 11:20–24, Luke 10:12–16); in these passages, the town’s inhabitants, along with those of Capernaum and Beth Saida, are scorned for their sins. From its […]
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