Report on 2010–2013 Excavations at Horvat Kur, Galilee

At the 2013 ASOR Annual Meeting, Wofford College professor, Byron McCane sat down with us to present his paper for ASORtv. His paper, “Report on 2010–2013 Excavations at Horvat Kur, Galilee,” was co-written by Juergen Zangenberg (Leiden University), Stefan Muenger(University of Bern), and Raimo Hakola (University of Helsinki), and presented during the Reports on Current Excavations, Non-ASOR Affiliated session.

Abstract from the 2013 ASOR Program Book

Four seasons of excavations at Horvat Kur in the Galilee (250570/754485) have exposed the remains of a broadhouse synagogue from the Byzantine period.

The building was entered through a portico on the west or a doorway on the south. The fill beneath the portico included the discarded remains of a once colored mosaic as well as more than one thousand coins. A low bench of basalt stones (some of which were plastered) runs along the interior walls, interrupted only by a stone bemah in the center of the southern wall—the synagogue is thus oriented toward Jerusalem. Near the bemah, an ornamented limestone seat was found in situ atop the bench. The building underwent several changes and repairs in the course of its lifespan. On either side of the bemah, north–south rows of columns rested on stylobate. A basalt stone table was found in reuse in the eastern stylobate. Nicknamed “the Horvat Kur stone,” this monolith features geometric figures on three sides and figurative representations on one side. Its original function is still a subject of research.

A narrow test trench into the sediment of a cistern located outside the northern wall of the synagogue has produced nearly thirty intact vessels of the early Byzantine period, mostly cooking pots and water jars. In addition, a dense sequence of pollen samples has been taken.

Preliminary interpretation of these finds indicates that the Horvat Kur synagogue illustrates Byzantine synagogue construction, decoration, and use in the setting of a Galilean village of modest economic circumstances.

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