CAPERNAUM/KFAR NAHUM, ISRAEL

4th century synagogue, Capernaum, courtesy RomeArtLover.it

The town of Capernaum, or Kfar Nahum as it was originally called in Hebrew, was a fishing village on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was established during the time of the Judean Hasmonean dynasty in the 2^nd century BCE and had a population of about 1,500.  Later, it became the home of Matthew the Evangelist, as well as Saint Peter whose house was converted into a place of worship by the early Judeo-Christians, officially becoming a church under the authority of the Byzantines.

A major archaeological site, excavations in Capernaum have revealed two ancient synagogues, one built over the other, the most recent, dating back to the 4^th century. In Christian tradition, one Sabbath, while sojourning in Capernaum, Jesus healed a servant of a Roman centurion. This servant later built the first synagogue and this became the place where Jesus preached. According to the Synoptic Gospels, he selected Capernaum as the center of his public ministry in Galilee after he left the small mountainous hamlet of Nazareth (Matthew 4:12–17). Eventually though, he came to curse the town, along with Bethsaida and Chorazin, because of their lack of faith in him as the Messiah. Other healings by Jesus that occurred in Capernaum included the healing of Simon Peter's mother-in-law of a fever (Luke 4:38–39), the healing of the lepers, and the healing of the paralytic lowered by friends through the roof, as reported in Mark 2:1–12 and Luke 5:17–26. Capernaum survived the Jewish revolts against Rome in the 1^st and 2^nd centuries even though the Jewish historian Josephus received treatment there after suffering a battle injury nearby along the Jordan River.

By the 4th century, the local houses were constructed with good quality mortar and fine ceramics. This was about the time that the synagogue, now familiar to Israelis and tourists alike, was built. This synagogue contained a relief depicting one of the earliest representations of the Magen David (Star of David). There were some European archaeologists early in the 20^th century who believed that it also contained an upper floor reserved for women, with access by means of an external staircase located in a small room. But this opinion was not substantiated by later excavations. There are two inscriptions on the site, one in Greek and the other in Aramaic, that commemorate the benefactors that helped in the construction of the building. There are also carvings of five- and six-pointed stars and of palm trees.

Capernaum remained inhabited for several centuries since its founding. It was revived after the earthquake of 749 but was later abandoned in the 11th century, shortly before the Crusader conquest. Archaeological activities at the site, as well as throughout the country, began in the early 19^th century. By 1866, the British Captain Charles William Wilson identified the remains of the synagogue, and in 1894, the Franciscan Friar Giuseppe Baldi of Naples, the Custodian of the Holy Land, was able to recover a good part of the ruins from the Bedouins. The Franciscans raised a fence to protect the ruins from frequent vandalism, and planted palms and eucalyptus trees brought from Australia to create a small oasis for pilgrims. The most important excavations began in 1905 under the direction of German archaeologists Heinrich Kohl and Carl Watzinger. They were continued by Franciscan Fathers Vendelin von Benden (1905–1915) and Gaudenzio Orfali (1921–1926). The excavations resulted in the discovery of two public buildings, the synagogue and an octagonal church. In 1926, Father Orfali began the restoration of the synagogue. The work was interrupted by his death in a car accident later that year (which is commemorated by a Latin inscription carved onto one of the synagogue's columns), and was continued by Virgilio Corbo beginning in 1976. Excavations have been ongoing, with some publication on the Internet as recently as 2003.