The Decorated Stone from the Synagogue at Migdal

Abstract

Abstract In the center of the first century CE synagogue which was discovered at ancient Magdala (Migdal), a large decorated stone block was found. It is covered with decorative-symbolic elements on four sides and on the upper face as well, standing on four short legs. As the façade is carrying the Temple’s Menorah, this article will suggest that all other elements are not decorative but rather symbolic and symbolizing the Temple in Jerusalem. Another conclusion is that the block was used as a base for the Torah reading table in the synagogue. These symbols show that there was a very strong connection between Galileans and Jerusalem with the Temple in its center, and that there is an important reflection and relations between Jewish symbolism and Jewish heavenly mysticism as it appears in ancient Jewish sources, both Biblical and non-Biblical.