Synagogue in the Agora of Athens

Synagogue in the Agora of Athens
Synagogue in the Agora of Athens
Religion
Affiliation	Judaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue (267–396 CE)
Status	Ruins
Location
Location	Ancient Agora of Athens (now modern-day Athens)
Country	Greece
	Location of the former synagogue in Athens
Geographic coordinates	37°58′29″N 23°43′20″E / 37.9747°N 23.7222°E
Architecture
Type	Synagogue architecture
Completed	c. 267 CE
Materials	Pentelic marble

The Synagogue in the Agora of Athens is an ancient former Jewish synagogue, that was located in the Ancient Agora of Athens, in modern-day Greece.

During an excavation in the summer of 1977, a piece of Pentelic marble apparently once part of a curvilinear frieze over a doorway or niche was discovered a few meters from the northeast corner of the Metroon.^[1] The marble fragment is incised with the images of a seven-branched Menorah and a Lulav, or palm branch.^[2] The synagogue is thought to date from the period between 267 and 396 CE.^[1]

Biblical reference

The apostle Paul is said in the Book of Acts to have visited a synagogue in Athens.^[3] The identity of that synagogue cannot be firmly established.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Urman, Dan; McCracken Flesher, Paul Virgil (1998). Ancient Synagogues: Historical Analysis and Archaeological Discovery. BRILL. pp. 125ff.
^ Hachlili, Rachel (1998). Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Diaspora. BRILL. p. 323.
^ Acts 17:17
^ Bruce, Frederick Fyvie (1988). The Book of the Acts. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 329.