A late medieval synagogue at Ḥuqoq/Yaquq in Galilee?

Abstract

Excavations at Ḥorvat Ḥuqoq (Yaquq) in Israel’s eastern Lower Galilee have brought to light a monumental public building that sheds new light on the history of the Jews in late medieval Palestine, about whom we know very little. We interpret this building as a late medieval synagogue — the first such synagogue to be unearthed in Israel — and argue that its construction was precipitated by the establishment of the Mamluk barīd, which passed by Yaquq, and by the tradition locating the tomb of Habakkuk at the site. In the late medieval period, Yaquq experienced a brief economic boom owing to the increasing number of travellers, including pilgrims, passing through the village. This wealth is reflected in the construction of this monumental synagogue and the discovery of a large gold and silver coin hoard to its south. In addition to serving the local community, the synagogue would have served the many pilgrims who visited Habakkuk’s tomb and nearby holy shrines.

Keywords:

• synagogue
• barīd
• tomb of Habakkuk
• pilgrimage
• Galilee
• Ḥuqoq/Yaquq
• Mamluk period

Acknowledgements

We thank Bethany Walker and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this paper, although we alone are responsible for its content. We are also indebted to Daniel Schindler for the pottery readings and Robert Kool of the Israel Antiquities Authority for the reading of the coin hoard.

Notes

1 The ancient name of the site was Ḥuqoq, but this became Yaquq sometime between the early Islamic and medieval periods, although the old name was not entirely forgotten. Accordingly, we use ‘Ḥuqoq’ and ‘Yaquq’ to refer respectively to the pre- and post-medieval phases of the site, and ‘Ḥuqoq/Yaquq’ to refer to the site as a whole.