The Ostia Synagogue

I'm splitting this up into two posts--the general introduction to the site we're excavating and then later on, a discussion about the first couple days of excavation (I'll hopefully do that later tonight). So, the synagogue was first excavated in the early 60s by Maria Squarciapino (it was discovered during the construction of a road right next to it to connect Rome with the then-new Fiumacino Airport) and it was pretty obvious that it was a synagogue because of two stone carvings of menorahs. However, Squarciapino  dated the site to the first century CE, essentially stating that this was among the earliest synagogues in Europe, by relying upon sigillata, a type of pottery that was thought to go away after the first century (it didn't). Anyhow, Squarciapino did a rush job of the site, essentially reconstructing the site as best she could.


Nowadays, we date the first phase of the building to the second century CE, although it would be renovated over time (multiple renovations expanding the area). The first phase of the building is denoted by the wall type opus mixtum which basically had the diamond pattern of bricks (as shown below) framed by leveling rectangular bricks at windows and doors.

Anyhow, we can tell that there were multiple building phases as this synagogue expanded and grew. If you look below, you'll see the opus mixtum wall being broken to first allow a door and then that door being bricked up. We know this because (a) there are no framing rectangular bricks to denote that the door was original and (b) the brickwork that makes up the door is different from the opus mixtum. 

Anyhow, the structure is really neat, with a rather large worship space framed by four columns at the entrance (one slightly cracked which makes archaeologists think that the set was used). The architectural evidence points to it having been used up into the fifth and sixth century (and probably only became a synagogue in the  third century), which makes this place, while not one of the oldest synagogues in Europe, one of the more intriguing pieces of evidence for late antique life in Ostia.

The entryway to the assembly area (side view)

The Torah shrine

The former pantry/kitchen...and my working area! more on that later