Priene Synagogue

37.65855555555627.295666666667Koordinaten: 37 ° 39 ' 31 " N, 27 ° 17' 44" O

The synagogue of Priene probably dates to the second century AD During this time, Priene was only an insignificant provincial town. The synagogue was discovered during the excavations from 1895 to 1898 by Theodor Wiegand and Hans Schrader. The meeting room was initially thought to be a Christian church. Only later, the view prevailed that it is the remains of a former synagogue. The original building was a residential building, probably with shop premises, from the Hellenistic period, which had been rebuilt at considerable expense to a synagogue.

The actual meeting room of the synagogue was 10 × 14 m tall with a bench on the north side. On the east side there was a niche that may have served as a Torah shrine. On the west side was a larger vestibule. The meeting room was once supported by two rows of columns and thus formed a basilica. Only the remains of a column was found in the excavations. In the north and east there were several smaller rooms of unknown function, but which were probably used by the Jewish community.

Several findings support the interpretation as a synagogue: A coarse relief shows the representation of a menorah, on another relief are the Jewish symbols Etrog ( citrus fruit ) represented shofar ( horn) and lulav ( palm branch ) and took over the ark, the incised image of a further menorah. The synagogue also was a marble basin, which probably served as a ritual.