MAGDALA, ISRAEL—Excavations on the shore of the Sea of Galilee have revealed a large public structure outfitted with elaborate columns that suggest it could have been a synagogue dating to the Roman period. "So far, we have not found another use that could have been made of the structure besides a synagogue," Bar-Ilan University archaeologist Michael Osband told Y Net News. "The structure joins a very limited list of rural synagogues dated to the Roman period that have been uncovered so far." Abandoned sometime after the middle of the fourth century A.D., the building is still being excavated. Osband and his team hope further digging at the site will shed light on when it was occupied. To read about a spectacular discovery at another synagogue in Israel, see “Mosaics of Huqoq.”
