Uncovering Yehudiya’s 1,500-Year-Old Synagogue

For decades, archaeologists have uncovered fragments and architectural elements from a synagogue, including a stone-engraved menorah, repurposed in the homes of the ancient village Yehudiya in the Golan Heights. The evidence suggested that a synagogue must have once stood nearby, yet its exact location remained a mystery—until now. In October, a team of Israeli archaeologists unearthed the remains of the synagogue. Preliminary stylistic analysis dates the site to between the late 3rd and 7th–8th centuries AD.

The discovery of a synagogue in the Golan Heights, dating back 1,500 years to the Roman and Byzantine periods, provides clear evidences of a thriving Jewish community in the region during that era. “Our excavations exposed a southern wall with three entrances, column bases and stone benches that unmistakably belong to a basilica-style synagogue,” explained Dr. Mechael Osband of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology. Osband co-directs the project with Prof. Haim Ben-David of Kinneret College. Their work, part of a multi-year research initiative, focuses on architectural fragments from Golan villages, including the abandoned village of Yehudiya. 

In the past, the archaeological survey collected more than 150 items, including lintels, column segments and carved basalt stones, most of which had been reused in the abandoned village. Recent excavations also revealed the building’s structure: two rows of hewn stones with three openings along its southern face, as well as two decorated lintels nearby. Approximately 13 meters (42.7 ft.) wide and 17 meters (55.8 ft.) long, the building’s outline resembles the basilica style commonly found in ancient synagogues in Israel during that time period, namely a large hall with columns inside and benches along the walls.