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Dates Excavated:
1. 1958-1971
2. 1973-2013
Excavator(s):
1. George M. A. Hanfmann (Harvard University, Cornell University, Corning Museum of Glass)
2. Harvard-Cornell Sardis Excavations
Archaeological Information: Syn (= Main Hall of Synagogue), SynFc (= Forecourt of synagogue)
Date of Building Construction:
mid-6th century [1015]
Place of Building in Settlement:
In the middle of a shopping district, along a colonnaded street. [1016]
Building Description:
This synagogue was not a freestanding building but was incorporated into a monumental Roman bath and gymnasium complex. Below the synagogue building lay at least three consecutive buildings, including a Roman civil basilica.[1017] Only in the fourth, and final stage, did the building definitely function as a synagogue.[1018] The synagogue consisted of two main rooms: an entrance court, or forecourt with a fountain in the middle, and a long assembly hall, or main hall. The floor of the forecourt was covered in complex and multicolored mosaic panels with donor inscriptions. Three doors led into the main hall, which had two rows of six piers. Two platforms with pediments flanked the inside of the central door. At the opposite, west end of the hall, was a broad apse containing three-tiered benches, separated by a railing. In front of the apse stood a large, marble table decorated with Roman eagles. Two pairs of marble lions (spolia) flanked the table. The floor of the main hall was also covered with geometric mosaic designs and donor inscriptions. In total, more than 80 inscriptions were found in the building, carved on marble plaques, incised in stone, or as part of the mosaic floor. Pieces of a large marble menorah were also found inside the main hall.
Maps and Plans
First Deposit
Date Excavated: July 20, 1963
Deposit Location:
Under the floor in the forecourt of the synagogue
Archaeological Information:
Hoard B, Area E 113-115 N 7-10, at a depth of 96.75 to 97.25 meters
Certain association with the building itself? Yes
Deposit Retrievable? No
Deposit Type: IB6
Deposit Description:
This deposit is mentioned in the Bates catalogue from 1971 on the Byzantine coins found at Sardis. [1019] The only information on the deposit, which is labeled Hoard B, given is that it was found on July 7, 1963 at a depth of 96.75 to 97.25 meter, in grid E 113-115 N 7-10. The deposit contains 248 coins, of which 223 were disintegrated and 22 were illegible; only 3 have been identified. The date of the hoard is said to be 491-578 CE.
Container Present? No
Description of Coins:
The only information on this deposit is found in Appendix B: Description and index of hoards, in the volume on the Byzantine coins found at Sardis published by George E. Bates in 1971 (p. 151). Here, Bates states that of the 248 coins found in this deposit, 223 were disintegrated and 22 were illegible. Thus, only 3 have been identified: Nos. 16, 253, and 421 in Bates’ catalogue. The coins are respectively a nummus of Anastasius I (491-518 CE, Constantinople), a decanummium of Justinian I (560-561 CE, Cyzicus), and a pentanummium of Justin II (565-578 CE, Constantinople). At the moment, Andrew Seager, Marcus Rautman, Jane DeRose Evans, and others are working on the final publication of the coins from Sardis. When they are finished, more information on the context and the content of this deposit may become available.[1020]
Other Images
Conspectus Table:
Conspectus table Sardis, Deposit 1. This table can be seen in full screen by clicking the icon on the bottom right. For more details on the specific coins in each row, please hover over the numbers.
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Second Deposit
Date Excavated: 1958-1971
Deposit Location:
Under the floor in the forecourt of the synagogue
Archaeological Information:
/
Certain association with the building itself? Yes
Deposit Retrievable? No
Deposit Type: IB6
Deposit Description:
These coins were found below the floor level in the forecourt. A total of almost 500 coins was discovered under the synagogue floor, 65 of which were found in the main hall: 435 come from under the floor of the forecourt. 300 of these circa 400 coins were legible and circa 123 of them were reliably located beneath unbroken mosaics or were sealed in the mortar bedding for the fountain.[1021] The specific context of each coin, however, is very confusing. The coins were not given any real stratigraphic context in the field books or in the coin registries during the excavations: the archaeologists just list grid coordinates, field book pages, date of excavation, etc. Thus, it is difficult to determine which coins come from under which mosaic panels, and which coins come from repairs or damaged areas, or from inside drains and pipes. In 2005, Jodi Magness published an article on 31 coins dating from before 380 CE, which she believes come from under the Sardis forecourt floor. However, even here different contexts and stratigraphic layers are given for the group as a whole: some coins come from directly under the mosaic floor, while others were found under the bedding of the mosaic floor. Still others were found next to or under the water pipes that provided water to the fountain, and which according to the excavators, were laid at a later stage.[1022] Thus, archaeologist Nicholas Cahill, the current director of the Sardis excavations, believes it is too early to draw any conclusions on the contexts and the function of the Sardis coins.[1023] The coins have been included in this study but need to be approached with caution. When the final publication monograph is published, the Sardis team will make the coins available in a searchable database at http://sardisexpedition.org.
Container Present? No
Description of Coins:
Circa 400 coins were found in this deposit, of which 123 came from sealed loci. Magness published 31 coins of this deposit dated after 380 CE in her 2005 article. The catalogue of Byzantine coins published by George E. Bates in 1971 contains another 39 coins.[1024] This leaves us with a remaining 330 unknown coins.
Based on the 70 known coins, the deposit ranges in date from 378-383 CE (Valentinian II) to 612-613 CE (Heraclius I), with an even spread of coins throughout this period. Coins of Justinian I and Maurice (Tiberius) are the most frequent, with 13 and 10 coins respectively. Of the coins identified, 14 are pentanummi (32%), 10 are decanummi (23%), 9 are half folles (20%), 7 are folles (16%), and 4 are nummi (9%). Most of the coins were minted in Constantinople, but one coin was struck at Constantine in Numidia (a half follis of Justin II, 572-573 CE), the only coin from Algeria found in an ancient synagogue deposit.
Conspectus Table:
Conspectus table Sardis, Deposit 2. This table can be seen in full screen by clicking the icon on the bottom right. For more details on the specific coins in each row, please hover over the numbers.
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Third Deposit
Date Excavated: 1958-1972
Deposit Location:
Under the floor in the main hall of the synagogue
Archaeological Information:
/
Certain association with the building itself? Yes
Deposit Retrievable? No
Deposit Type: IB6
Deposit Description:
65 coins found under the mosaics of the main hall of the synagogue at different spots where the mosaic panels have been lifted.[1025] Here, the same caveat must be mentioned as to the coins found in the forecourt of the synagogue: Cahill, together with Seager and Evans, are still working on the final publication of these coins. Thus, any conclusions about the context and function of these coins need to be approached with caution.[1026]
Container Present? No
Description of Coins:
According to Hanfmann, a total of 65 identifiable coins was found, 27 of which came from sealed loci.[1027] Magness published 12 coins from this deposit dated after 380 CE in her 2005 article. The catalogue of Byzantine coins published by Bates in 1971 contains another 12 coins.[1028] This leaves us with a remaining 41 unknown coins. The coins range in date from 308-337 CE (Constantine I?) to 615-616 CE (Heraclius I), following more or less the same date range as the coins found under the floor of the forecourt. Coins of Heraclius I comprise the largest group (8 coins). As for denominations, of the 13 coins that could be identified, 11 were folles, one was a decanummium, and one was a pentanummium. Most of the coins were minted in Constantinople, with two from Cyzicus, and two from Nicomedia.
Conspectus Table:
Conspectus table Sardis, Deposit 3. This table can be seen in full screen by clicking the icon on the bottom right. For more details on the specific coins in each row, please hover over the numbers.
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References
Bibliography:
– Hanfmann G., 1964, “The Sixth Campaign at Sardis (1963),” in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 174, pp. 3-58
– Hanfmann G., 1965, “The Seventh Campaign at Sardis (1964),” in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 177, pp. 2-37
– Hanfmann G. et al., 1966, “The Eighth Campaign at Sardis (1965)”, in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 182, pp. 2-54
– Hanfmann G. & Majewski L., 1967, “The Ninth Campaign at Sardis (1966),” in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 187, pp. 9-62
– Hanfmann G., Mitten D., and Ramage A., 1968, “The tenth Campaign at Sardis (1967),” in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 191, pp. 2-41
– Hanfmann G. et al., 1970, “The Eleventh and Twelfth Campaign at Sardis (1968, 1969),” in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 199, pp. 7-58
– Bates G., 1971, Byzantine Coins. Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, Harvard University Press
– Hanfmann G. and Thomas R., 1971, “The thirteenth Campaign at Sardis (1970),” in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 203, pp. 5-22
– Seager A., 1972, “The Building History of the Sardis Synagogue,” in: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 76, No. 4, pp. 425-435
– Seager A., 1974, “The Synagogue at Sardis,” in: Qadmoniot, Vol. 7, pp. 123-128
– Buttrey, Theodore V, Johnston A., MacKenzie K.M., and Michael L. Bates, 1981, Greek, Roman, and Islamic Coins from Sardis, Cambridge: Harvard University Press
– Hanfmann G. & Burrell B., 1981, “Notes on some Archaeological Contexts,” in: Hanfmann G & Scott J. (eds.), Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, Harvard University Press, pp. xx-xxiv
– Seager A., 1982 “The Synagogue at Sardis,” Levine L. (ed.), Ancient Synagogues Revealed, Jerusalem: The Israel Exploration Society, pp. 178-184
– Kraabel, A.T., 1982a, “The Excavated Synagogues of Late Antiquity from Asia Minor to Italy,” in: Internationaler Bysantinistenkongress, Vol. 16.2.2, pp. 227-236
– Hanfmann G. (ed.), 1983, Sardis, from Prehistoric to Roman Times, Harvard University Press
– Magness J., 2005, “The Date of the Sardis Synagogue in Light of the Numismatic Evidence,” in: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 109, No. 3, pp. 443-475
– DeRose Evans J., 2013, “Five Small Bronze Hoards from Sardis and their Implication for Coin Circulation in the Fifth Century C.E.,” in: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 369, pp. 137-156
– DeRose J., 2018, Coins from the Excavations at Sardis, Their Archaeological and Economic Contexts, Coins from the 1973 to 2013 Excavations, Harvard University Press
Website(s):
– Sardis expedition:
http://sardisexpedition.org/en/essays/about-synagogue
– Museum of the Jewish People:
https://www.bh.org.il/the-ancient-synagogue-of-sardis-turkey/
– The Byzantine Legacy:
https://www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/sardis-synagogue
Footnotes
[1015] This date is based on the re-evaluation of the numismatic evidence found under the floor of the synagogue by Jodi Magness (Magness 2005b). The excavators believe that there were two phases to the synagogue building: the first phase constructed in the second half of the third century, the second in the fourth century. However, after Magness examined the unpublished field reports and notebooks of the excavations, an initial construction date of the structure as a synagogue in the mid-sixth century seems more correct. In fact, a terminus post quem of the early 7th century might even be proposed, based on the coins found under the floors of the synagogue hall and courtyard (see below).
[1016] The synagogue was discovered in 1962 by the Harvard-Cornell expeditions (Seager 1972, p. 425) For an overview of early travelers visiting the site, see Hanfmann 1983, p. 148.
[1017] Seager and Kraabel 1983, p. 172.
[1018] Magness 2005b, p. 109.
[1019] Bates 1971, p. 151 (Appendix B).
[1020] Personal communication Nicholas Cahill. He states that the researchers “have been working through the coins and the fieldbooks and plans and photographs, trying to sort them into “real” contexts as much as possible.” He also notes that “This is slow and painstaking work … and sorting out which coins actually come from under which mosaics, as opposed to coming from repairs, damaged areas, etc. or from benches, drains, or other contexts, has taken a lot of time and the work still needs to be checked and proofread.”
[1021] Seager 1972, pp. 432-433; Hanfmann and Scott 1981, p. xxii; Hanfmann 1983, p. 173. See for example Hanfmann 1965, p. 21: 15 coins were found between July 7-14, 1964, when a fragmentary mosaic in the northeastern part of the forecourt, directly north of the entrance which led from the “Marble Avenue” into the synagogue through the Byzantine shops, was lifted (roughly E 107-112, N 1-4). The coins were found in fill below the mortar bedding of the mosaic, but above a second layer of mortar. The latest of the coins was datable to the end of the 4th century CE (report by D.G. Mitten). And Hanfmann et al. 1970, p. 47: A total of 124 coins was found under inner mosaic panels W 1-5 (MS 62.6-10), 94 of which were legible.
[1022] “The pipe system serving the fountain was replaced by a second, parallel set of pipes.” Hanfmann et al. 1968, pp. 29-31; Seager 1977, pp. 434-435; Hanfmann 1983, p. 174.
[1023] Personal communication. In two emails from the spring of 2020, Cahill wrote to me: “In the years that the synagogue was being dug, they did not really record “context” or “deposit” the way we think about those concepts: for instance, they usually don’t specify whether a coin was found under a floor, or in a bench or a niche or a bema, but often simply give grid coordinates and levels. These can sometimes be “translated” into archaeological contexts, but that usually requires rather intense work with the field books and other records, and there will always be slippage and uncertainty. Even the grid coordinates were not always measured with strings and tapes and such, but were estimated from marks on the walls, which were ca. 20 m apart; and the marks themselves were revised over the years as the building was re-surveyed, introducing inconsistencies. Excavators couldn’t be on the spot at all times; they were often responsible for several widely separated areas of excavation and often were absent when coins (and other artifacts) were found. Often the person digging removed small objects like coins and pointed to the place where he found it when the supervisor returned. Even when coins are found in the process of removing the floor or another feature, it is often unclear whether the coin was really sealed in that feature, or whether the feature was preserved at the point where the coin was found. It is also often unclear what the situation was after the Synagogue ceased to be used as a synagogue, so the majority of the coins can’t necessarily be associated with the use of this as a building. In short, it’s a mess.”
[1024] Bates 1971. He gives a total of 53 coins as coming from the forecourt of the synagogue in Appendix A of his catalogue (p. 150). However, of these 53, I dropped Nos. 16, 253, and 421 (since these were found in Hoard B, and thus form a separate deposit), Nos. 76, 99, 174, 199 (found during sifting ABOVE the mosaic), Nos. 286, 401, 442, 754 (found in a water channel), No. 563 (found in collapse OVER floor), No. 810 (found during cleaning of the floor), and No. 905 (found in a wall). I believe the remaining 39 coins may be assumed as coming from fill under the mosaic floor.
[1025] For example, in 1956 a trench was excavated in the southeast corner of the main hall, between E 87-93 and N 1.20-2.95. Three coins were found here, embedded in the foundation for the mosaics (Hanfmann et al. 1966, p. 40).
[1026] For example, according to Hanfmann, floor mosaics “were repaired periodically, and some whole panels were replaced, each time giving a possibility for dropping coins” (Hanfmann 1983, p. 174). However, this conclusion was made AFTER later coins were identified as coming from under these panels. In other words, it may be that all the panels were placed at the same time, with the early 7th century as terminus post quem!
[1027] Hanfmann and Scott 1981, p. xxii; Hanfmann 1983, p. 173.
[1028] Bates 1971. He gives a total of 17 coins as coming from the main hall of the synagogue in Appendix A of his catalogue (p. 150). However, of those 17, I omitted No. 290 (found in a closet ABOVE the floor), No. 613 (found ON floor), No. 616 (found during cleaning of mosaic floor), and Nos 1139 and 171 (dated to the 11th century CE and thus intrusive). I believe the remaining 12 coins may be assumed to be coins from fill under the mosaic floor.