The 'Magdala stone table': its function and role in determining the liturgical furniture in the ancient synagogue

Autor:	Zeev Weiss
Rok vydání:	2021
Předmět:	Archeology Visual Arts and Performing Arts media_common.quotation_subject Table (landform) Function (mathematics) Art Classics Ancient history media_common
Zdroj:	Journal of Roman Archaeology. 34:608-631
ISSN:	2331-5709 1047-7594
DOI:	10.1017/s1047759421000544
Popis:	The discovery of low stone tables at Magdala and a few other sites in the Galilee and Golan allows us to examine, for the first time, this liturgical piece of furniture used by several communities in the late Second Temple period and the first centuries of the Common Era. This article defines the purpose of these stone tables based on analysis of the archaeological finds and examination of the literary sources associated with the Torah-reading ceremony conducted in the synagogues of ancient Palestine. The reading of the Torah throughout this long period was conducted standing with the open Torah scroll held in raised hands. Our study demonstrates that this table was not intended to be used for reading the Torah, but rather functioned as a low stand upon which the scroll was placed before the Torah-reading ceremony, during the breaks between the readers, and after completion of the ceremony.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::ba0fe389c9eb4115d16e779f2a8e8fde https://doi.org/10.1017/s1047759421000544 Zobrazit plný text záznamu