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A Carved Stone Block Upends Assumptions About Ancient Judaism
The New York Times ^ | 12/8/15 | Isabel Kershner

Posted on 12/08/2015 7:32:46 PM PST by Faith Presses On

BEIT SHEMESH, Israel — The carved stone block is about the size of an occasional table. It has held its secrets for two millenniums. Whoever engraved its enigmatic symbols was apparently depicting the ancient Jewish temples.

But what makes the stone such a rare find in biblical archaeology, according to scholars, is that when it was carved, the Second Temple still stood in Jerusalem for the carver to see. The stone is a kind of ancient snapshot.

And it is upending some long-held scholarly assumptions about ancient synagogues and their relationship with the Temple, a center of Jewish pilgrimage and considered the holiest place of worship for Jews, during a crucial period, when Judaism was on the cusp of the Christian era.

Known as the Magdala Stone, the block was unearthed in 2009 near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, where a resort and center for Christian pilgrims was going to be built. Government archaeologists are routinely called in to check for anything old and important that might be destroyed by a project, and in this case they discovered the well-preserved ruins of a first-century synagogue and began excavating.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Current Events; General Discusssion; History; Judaism
KEYWORDS: ancientjudaism; archaeology; beitshemesh; biblicalarchaeology; block; carved; cityofdavid; faithandphilosophy; godsgravesglyphs; isabelkershner; israel; jerusalem; jewish; judaism; kingdomofdavid; letshavejerusalem; magdala; magdalastone; marymagdalene; newyork; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; seaofgalilee; secondtemple; stone; synagogue; synagogues; temple; templemount
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1 posted on 12/08/2015 7:32:46 PM PST by Faith Presses On
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To: Faith Presses On

Did the NYT really say millenniums?


2 posted on 12/08/2015 7:40:33 PM PST by Defiant (There are two Republican parties--the GOPe and the PRP (People's Republican Party). PRP will win.)
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To: SunkenCiv

PING


3 posted on 12/08/2015 7:43:44 PM PST by a fool in paradise (The goal of Socialism is Communism. Marx and Lenin were in agreement on this.)
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To: Defiant

You know...they’re all alumnuses of ivy league collegia


4 posted on 12/08/2015 7:46:14 PM PST by vrwconspiracist (The Tax Man cometh)
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To: vrwconspiracist

Ha!


5 posted on 12/08/2015 7:49:25 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o (Semper Fi.)
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To: Tax-chick; GregB; SumProVita; narses; bboop; SevenofNine; Ronaldus Magnus; tiki; Salvation; ...

The site turned out to be the presumed hometown of Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’s most faithful followers. The dig also revealed an ancient marketplace and fishermen’s quarters along with the synagogue.

Experts have raised the tantalizing possibility that Jesus may have taught in the synagogue when he was in Galilee. A local coin found in a side room was minted in A.D. 29, when Jesus is thought to have been alive.

Ping!

6 posted on 12/08/2015 7:53:40 PM PST by NYer (Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy them. Mt 6:19)
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To: Defiant

“Did the NYT really say millenniums?”

“Millenniums” is not incorrect, but “millennia” is preferred as the plural of “millennium.”

Most likely more people would understand the meaning of “millenniums” than “millennia”, and I suspect the NYT is having to gradually dumb-down their writing to keep pace with the declining IQ of their declining readership.


7 posted on 12/08/2015 8:19:43 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: catnipman

I’ve never seen millenniums used. It is written that way for the dummii.


8 posted on 12/08/2015 8:23:44 PM PST by Defiant (There are two Republican parties--the GOPe and the PRP (People's Republican Party). PRP will win.)
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To: Defiant

No. They printed it. You read it.


9 posted on 12/08/2015 8:36:16 PM PST by chulaivn66 (They're inside the wire!)
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To: Faith Presses On
Good article.
Thanks for posting.

My Protestant friend and I went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2011. WHAT a wonderful trip that was.

10 posted on 12/08/2015 8:42:53 PM PST by cloudmountain
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To: Defiant

Most people don’t understand Greek and Latin plurals. Today I heard a man refer to his wife as “an alumni” of a particular university.


11 posted on 12/08/2015 8:49:05 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Faith Presses On

I wish the main point proffered in the article was in the posted excerpt; that because a carving of the Holy of Holies was found in the center of a First Century synagogue, dating to the time of Jesus (29 AD/CE), the religious role of the synagogue prior to the destruction of the Second Temple was perhaps more significant in religious life than previously thought.


12 posted on 12/08/2015 8:54:55 PM PST by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began.)
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To: af_vet_1981

“the religious role of the synagogue prior to the destruction of the Second Temple was perhaps more significant in religious life than previously thought.”

I’d amend that to “more significant in religious life than previous thought by atheist scholars with an axe to grind.”

From the descriptions given in the New Testament of Jesus in synagogues, I would never have thought that previously synagogues weren’t that significant in religious life.


13 posted on 12/08/2015 9:03:54 PM PST by Faith Presses On ("After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations...")
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To: Defiant

My “Webster’s New World Dictionary” (1957) has both as correct.


14 posted on 12/08/2015 9:19:35 PM PST by onedoug
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To: chulaivn66

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

15 posted on 12/08/2015 9:20:39 PM PST by Defiant (There are two Republican parties--the GOPe and the PRP (People's Republican Party). PRP will win.)
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To: Verginius Rufus
That's fairly common usage, so common that it is almost not considered a mistake. There is a fine line between correct latin plurals, and a usage so common it becomes the English way to say it. Alumni is not quite there, but it is close.
16 posted on 12/08/2015 9:23:36 PM PST by Defiant (There are two Republican parties--the GOPe and the PRP (People's Republican Party). PRP will win.)
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To: onedoug

The New World was a lot newer in 1957.


17 posted on 12/08/2015 9:24:51 PM PST by Defiant (There are two Republican parties--the GOPe and the PRP (People's Republican Party). PRP will win.)
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To: Faith Presses On
I’d amend that to “more significant in religious life than previous thought by atheist scholars with an axe to grind.”

From the descriptions given in the New Testament of Jesus in synagogues, I would never have thought that previously synagogues weren’t that significant in religious life.

Scholars grind their axes; it's what they do; whether secular or sacred leaning.

What descriptions in the New Testament are you referring to, and how does that elevate them with respect to the existing Temple and keeping the laws thereof, especially for the men to appear three times a year in Jerusalem ?

The line of inquiry explored by the article makes me consider what customs allowed some to worship in the synagogues as an alternative to making the journey to Jerusalem (the sick or elderly perhaps). The Mishnah says, "All are under obligation, to appear, except minors, women, the blind, the lame, the aged, and one who is ill physically or mentally." A minor in this case is defined as one who is too young to be taken by his father to Jerusalem.

Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Exodus, Catholic chapter twenty three, Protestant verses fourteen to seventeen,
as authorized, but not authorized by King James.

18 posted on 12/08/2015 9:38:15 PM PST by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began.)
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To: af_vet_1981
I have always read that synagogues first appeared during the Babylonian captivity, in between the First and Second Temple periods. During this time, they would have been the only way to worship. So it doesn't seem that surprising that they would retain some of this importance even after the Second Temple was built. This would seem especially likely because of the ongoing battle between the Hellenizers (represented by the Sadducees in Jesus’ time) and the Pharisees. Since the former controlled the temple, I could imagine the impetus to maintain the significance of the synagogues.

Love your tagline!! I think none of this crap around us today would have happened if Jerry were still alive :)

19 posted on 12/08/2015 9:59:03 PM PST by PlateOfShrimp
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To: All


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20 posted on 12/08/2015 10:00:56 PM PST by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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