Endnote 6 – Iconoclasm

Carl Watzinger, following H.H. Kitchener, theorized that the synagogues in Galilee had been constructed on behalf of the Jews by Roman authorities during the Severan dynasty. When this dynasty fell into political turmoil in the mid-third century, the Jews took this opportunity to remove offensive Roman images from their synagogues. The notion of Roman imperial sponsorship of synagogues reflects the misconception, common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, that art and Judaism are incompatible.