| Galilee Synagogues |
| Saving the Galilean Synagogues |
| Conversation from a Regional Perspective |
| Orderer | Landmarks Program in the Prime Minister’s Office |
| Implemented by: |
Yael Alef
Amit Rosenblum
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Key Words: conservation inventory; conservation plan and regional development; cooperation with stakeholders; awareness; site management; conservation of the Galilean synagogues; monitoring and maintenance; access to information
In 2013 the Saving the Galilean Synagogues project was launched. The project is being implemented by the Conservation Department of the Israel Antiquities Authority with funding provided by the Landmarks Program in the Prime Minister’s Office. Yael Alef is the project coordinator assisted by Amit Rosenblum (chief conservator), Eran Hemu (Projects Department director), Raz Ephron (Planning Branch director), Yoram Sa‘ad (Implementation Branch director), Dina Avshalom-Gorni (Eastern Galilee district archaeologist), Oren Zingboym (Golan district antiquities inspector), Gilad Cinamon (Lower Eastern Galilee antiquities inspector), Uri Berger (Eastern Galilee district antiquities inspector), Tzach Horowitz (Lower Galilee and Valleys district archeologist of the IAA Northern Region).
The Israel Antiquities Authority together with the Landmarks Project in the Prime Minister’s Office initiated the project to save the ancient synagogues in the Galilee. For more than one hundred years archaeologists have been engaged in excavating Israel’s ancient synagogues, and in recent years we have witnessed a renaissance in their research. The Galilee synagogues are included in Israel’s tentative list for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Yet to date (2013) no complete study of their physical condition has been conducted and no conservation program from a comprehensive regional perspective was prepared for them.
The Israel Antiquities Authority database contains scientific information about the synagogues but there is no data regarding the state of preservation of the remains. It is true the excavation reports do contain more detailed descriptions; however these do not reflect the level of preservation at the sites and the conservation needs. For example, numerous elements are visible in a picture appearing in the Palestine Exploration Fund’s survey of the northern synagogue at Baram, as well as impressive doorjambs and a lintel that are in situ. The lintel was moved to the Louvre Museum, other items were plundered, and now only several wall foundations remain at the site. At other sites, such as the synagogues at Hamat Gader or Tel Iztabba, the mosaics were removed for display in museums and the rest of the building remains stand neglected and exposed to the ravages of nature and man. Like them, there are neglected and destroyed synagogues that were also found at ‘Ein Nashut, Dabia and Deir Aziz in the Golan, in Gush Halav, Meron, in Wadi Hammam, Marot and elsewhere.
The main obstacle in conserving the sites is the absence of awareness regarding their cultural values and sometimes even awareness of the sites’ very existence. Moreover, the lack of information amongst the agencies concerning the conservation needs and the potential for the development of the sites has also resulted in their neglect.
The goal of the project therefore is to put the ancient Galilean synagogues on the map on a number of different levels: conserving the remains and strengthening their presence in the landscape, promoting research, making the information accessible to the public and raising the community’s awareness regarding the historical heritage in its surroundings. To this end, a unique database was established in cooperation with the IAA Information Technologies Department for the conservation of archaeological sites on the basis of a geographic information system (GIS). The system’s properties were tailored in accordance with the information required for the conservation of the sites and their maintenance and currently include statutory information, information on the state of preservation and risks and a cultural evaluation of the site. The information was collected from a conservation survey conducted in the area and from a survey of the literature, and is combined with the various layers of data of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Geographical Information Forum of the Israel Mapping Center. This tool is used for making decisions about the manner of intervention at each and every site based on an evaluation of all aspects. The data base that was established is actually a pilot program for an infrastructure that will involve management, monitoring and multi-year maintenance.
The survey focused on approximately sixty sites where the remains of a synagogue structure have been identified. Half of them come under the responsibility of various agencies such as the Nature and Parks Authority, local councils and churches, and half remain to this day without any responsible agency being directly involved in their preservation. Faced with this situation, one of the project’s main challenges is to promote cooperation with the local authorities and other stakeholders interested in these “orphan” sites in order to ensure ongoing conservation activity in them that will include the establishment of a maintenance system and development plans for tourism, education and community involvement.
Of the buildings surveyed, twelve were found to be in an unstable or hazardous condition that necessitates immediate first aid intervention. In order to treat these structures a conservation team was established that has begun carrying out the stabilization and conservation work.
This project allows us for the first time to build a model of a management system for the heritage resources with a long range regional perspective. The model was designed with an integrating approach that takes into account the rescue of the sites from the physical aspect of stabilizing and conserving the buildings, from the ethical aspect of “saving the knowledge” and making it available, and from the aspect of public-educational-community collaboration. The rationale behind the model is based on the recognition that awareness and appreciation of the synagogues and their surroundings by the general public, local communities, agencies and the other stakeholders is a pre-requisite for their physical conservation and long-term maintenance.
This paper was written for a conference of the Israel Antiquities Authority convened by the IAA Northern Region and the University of Haifa, December 11, 2013 and updated in June 2014.
To view the figures, click on the figure caption
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