Migdal Synagogue 2.2

The Migdal Synagogue is an ancient synagogue, located in Israel on the shore of the Sea of Galilee part of the archaeolgy site of acient Magdala. The synagogue was in use in the Second Temple period (50 BCE-100 CE), one of several found to date from that period and includes a carved stone representing the menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum that was located in the Temple, making it the oldest such representation in a Jewish context and one that appears to have been made by an individual who had seen the Menorah in the Temple. It is one of the Oldest synagogues in Israel.The historic synagogue was discovered in 2009 during a salvage dig conducted by Dr. Dina Avshalom-Gorni of the Israel Antiquities Authority at the location of a new hotel at Migdal Beach, the site of ancient Magdala. Magdala was a fishing town that was mentioned in Jewish documents of the period as a major site during the First Jewish–Roman War (66CE-73CE) at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and is also mentioned in Christian texts as the home community of Mary Magdalene.The synagogue covers approximately 120m². As in other ancient synagogues, it has stone benches built against the walls. The walls were decorated with elaborately designed and colored frescos and the floor is partially made of mosaics. The Migdal site is just one of seven synagogues known to date back to the Second Temple period, with the relative scarcity of such houses of worship explained by the prevailing religious practice of making pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem for the Shalosh regalim — the three annual pilgrimage festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Weeks) and Sukkot (Tabernacles) — as the primary form of worship at the time.