We are at an altitude of about 400 meters above the Sea of Galilee on a spur descending from the village Kanaf, located between Kanaf brook in the south and Sfamnun brook in the north. A beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee from here. The site of Khirbet Kanaf was discovered about 4 km east of the northeastern shores of the Sea of Galilee in 1885 by Lawrence Oliphant. The ancient synagogue was in the prominent stone structure at the top of the hill. This structure is new, it was built in the 19th century by Muhammad Said Pasha, the local effendi, who owned many areas in the southern Golan, which were cultivated by landowners who paid him in grain, and he used to store the grain in this structure that was built on the ruins of the ancient synagogue. The synagogue is at the top of the hill, while the village houses were scattered on the slopes around it over an area of about 15 dunams.
The synagogue, which its dimensions approximately 13m by 16m, was made entirely of ashlars made of basalt, as most ancient synagogues in the Golan were built, in accordance with the geological nature of the area. The lower courses of the building are ancient. In the northeast corner, five courses from the ancient synagogue can be seen. They are not equal in size, but the workmanship is beautiful, and they are connected without cement. The north east opening of the building matches the original opening of the synagogue, from which the threshold stone and the three lower courses have been preserved.
The most impressive find from the synagogue was discovered in the 19th century by Lawrence Oliphant. He discovered a stone lintel 3.5m long, and on it is an Aramaic inscription that, translated into English, reads: “This lintel, remember for good Yossa ben Halfo ben Hanio who made it.” The inscription expresses the volunteerism of the community members for the purposes of building the synagogue. The mezuzahs of the main doorway and the lintel were carved with vines and other rich patterns typical of the stone art of the Roman-Byzantine period. The mezuzah stones, together with the lintel, made up the main doorway of the synagogue. The remaining doorway stones lie to the north of the synagogue. The archaeologists who surveyed the site after the Six-Day War found the parts of the lintel shattered and incorporated into the houses of the Syrian village.
Regarding the entrance and the direction of prayer – no opening was found on the eastern and southern sides. In the northern wall, the opening is smaller than the length of the magnificent lintel, so it seems that the opening and the facade of the building at that time, was in the west and its main, approximately 2m wide opening was set in its center. Unfortunately, nothing has survived from this wall. A secondary opening was near the northeastern corner.
No clue was found to the location of the Holly Ark, so in which direction did they pray? In most places, the Holly Ark faces Jerusalem and worshippers face it. However, research into ancient synagogues reveals that for synagogues located east of the Jordan river or the Sea of Galilee,
some of them turned west in their prayers as was done in Babylon by the Babylonian Amoraim.
100 years after it was discovered, an excavation was conducted in the synagogue in the late 1970s. Beneath two layers of floor were over 1,000 coins that help date the time of the synagogue’s foundation to the early sixth century. In 551, a strong earthquake struck the north of the country, and the synagogue was probably damaged by that earthquake.
The building was restored and continued to serve as a synagogue, but the renovated building was smaller and simpler than the original. However, the synagogue was divided by two rows of four columns each. The excavation found many decorative titles in a simple Doric style, some large and some small, and from this it was concluded that there were two floors of columns, with the upper floor containing the smaller ones.
In a nearby Syrian house, another Greek decorative title was found in use, decorated with a three-branched menorah. A stone decorated with a relief of a lion was also found, which probably belonged to the decorations of the altar platform. There is no doubt that one of the surprising elements in synagogues throughout the country since the 3rd century is the use of figurative art.
The biblical prohibition as explained in the book of Exodus, chapter 20, is clear. In simple words is says: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.” This prohibition was strictly observed from the days of the Hasmoneans until the appearance of decorated synagogues in the 3rd century. To this day, a variety of figurative art items have been found in almost all synagogues excavated in the country and in many of those surveyed, there were reliefs and statues of lions, and mosaic floors with figures of people and animals. On Historical Sites In Israel, you can see the ribbons and decorations in the synagogues in Gush Halav, which date back to the 3rd century, the impressive decoration of the shell in the synagogue in Korazim, the decorations uncovered in Ein Neshot, and there are many other examples.
How can this be explained? Around the Galilee and the Golan, there were cities and villages whose residents were mostly pagan and which contained a large number of temples, theaters and other public buildings. In cities such as Caesarea, Panias and Susita in the Golan, Beit Shean and Acre in the Galilee, all of these buildings ‘dominated’ the public space of the pagan population and were decorated in the best of the Hellenistic-Roman artistic tradition. After the end of the Great Revolt in 70CE (or 73CE with Masada), the area in which the Jews lived was reduced, and there was no hope of rebuilding the Temple – the space in which the Jews had absolute control. The place of the ruined Judea was taken by the Galilee, and the place of the public space, the Temple, has since been filled by the synagogue, and this space was artistically designed under the influence of the Roman public space. The inner Jewish strength, combined with openness to the world around, as expressed in the words and actions of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, made possible the use of figurative art. What is interesting is that, as far as I know, items of figurative art in stone or mosaic were found in public buildings and not in private homes.
By the northern side, a stone floor is visible, which is probably part of the paved courtyard of the synagogue. It is possible that the entrance to the new building, existed then and led from the courtyard to the synagogue. Basalt stones, all polished and beautifully worked, are scattered around, and they probably also belonged to the ancient building.
Of the western wall, only the foundation course, 11 meters long, remains in place. Among the stones laid here are segments of columns, a lintel, mezuzahs of an entrance, and decorated stones. Decorated items from the synagogue were found embedded in the wall of the building built above the synagogue or in neighboring houses.
According to the researchers of the site and the pottery finds, the place can be traced back to the middle of the second millennium BCE, including the period of settlement in Canaan. The site was abandoned at the end of the 11th or beginning of the 10th century BCE and was only renewed in the 2nd century BCE, when an observation tower was built northeast of the synagogue as part of the defense system for the Golan Heights from the direction of the Beit Zeida Valley. The tower was probably destroyed by Alexander Jannaeus, and in its place a fortress was built, the interior of which was exposed in the excavation.
The settlement existed until the first war with the Romans in the year 67, when it was abandoned and its residents found refuge in neighboring Gamla. In the film about Gamla, I describe the battles against the Romans in great detail. Apparently, Jews settled in the settlement again in the second half of the 4th century. Then a spacious village was built, which reached its peak in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. A synagogue was built on the hilltop, and in the 6th century the settlement began to decline after it was damaged by the earthquake in 551. There were several other short periods of settlement until the Six Day War in 1967.
The Kanaf spring, located near Kanaf brook and about 2km from here, serves as the source of drinking water for the nearby village Kanaf. The people of the village recently built 3 pools at different heights that are fed by the spring’s surplus water.
If you visit here, I highly recommend visiting also the nearby ancient synagogue in Deir Aziz.
And finally, as usual, a question for you – during the time of King David, which kingdom ruled this area, a hint – there was a family connection to King David. The answer as usual at the end of the video.
