Editing Synagogue (section)

=== Second Temple period ===
In 1995, Howard Clark Kee argued that synagogues were not a developed feature of Jewish life prior to the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE).<ref>Kee, Howard Clark. "Defining the First-Century CE Synagogue: Problems and Progress." New Testament Studies 41.4 (1995): 481-500.</ref> Kee interpreted his findings as evidence that the mentions of synagogues in the [[New Testament]], including Jesus's visitations of synagogues in various Jewish settlements in Israel, were anachronistic. However, by 2018, Mordechai Aviam reported that there were now at least nine synagogues excavated known to pre-date the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Jerusalem Temple]] in 70&nbsp;CE, including in Magdala, Gamla, Masada, Herodium, Modi'in (Kh. Umm el-'Umdan), Qiryat Sepher (Kh. Bad 'Issa), and Kh. Diab. Aviam concluded that he thought almost every Jewish settlement at the time, whether it was a polis or a village, had a synagogue.<ref>Aviʿam, Mordekhai. "First-Century Galilee New Discoveries." ''Early Christianity'' 9.2 (2018): 219–226.</ref>

* [[Gamla]] – a synagogue was discovered near the city gate at Gamla, a site in the Golan northeast of the Sea of Galilee.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Levine, Lee I.|title=The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years|date=2000|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0-300-07475-1|location=New Haven|oclc=40408825}}</ref> This city was destroyed by the Roman army in 67 CE and was never rebuilt.
* [[Masada]] – a synagogue was discovered on the western side of Masada, just south of the palace complex at the northern end of the site. One of the unique finds at this synagogue was a group of 14 scrolls, which included biblical, sectarian, and apocryphal documents.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Yadin, Yigael.|title=Masada: The Momentous Archaeological Discovery Revealing the Heroic Life and Struggle of the Jewish Zealots|date=1966|publisher=Random House|isbn=0-394-43542-7|edition=1st|location=New York, NY|pages=180–191|oclc=861644287}}</ref>
* [[Herodium]] – a synagogue from the 1st century was discovered in Herod's palace fortress at Herodium.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Herodium (BiblePlaces.com)|url=https://www.bibleplaces.com/herodium/|access-date=2020-07-11|website=BiblePlaces.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Migdal Synagogue|Magdala]] – also known as the Migdal Synagogue, this synagogue was discovered in 2009. One of the unique features of this synagogue, which is located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, is an intricately carved stone [[Magdala stone|block]] that was found in the center of the main room.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient synagogue found in Israel |url=https://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/09/11/jerusalem.synagogue/index.html|access-date=2020-07-11|website=CNN}}</ref>
* Modi'in – Discovered between [[Modi'in]] and [[Latrun]] is the [[Oldest synagogues in the World|oldest synagogue]] within modern Israel that has been found to date, built during the second century BCE. It includes three rooms and a nearby [[mikve]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-09-22|title=Modi'in: Where the Maccabees Lived|url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/modiin-where-the-maccabees-lived/|access-date=2020-07-11|publisher=Biblical Archaeology Society|language=en}}</ref>
<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:Gamla Synagogue (7).JPG|First-century synagogue at Gamla
File:Masada 051013 Synagogue 01.jpg|First-century synagogue at Masada
File:Magdala-588.jpg|First-century synagogue at Magdala
File:Herodion Synagogue IMG 0708.JPG|First-century synagogue at Herodium
</gallery>