18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Women with Sart Renovate Largest Synagogue of Ancient World

Village women take part in the renovation works of the largest synagogue in the ancient world, located in the ancient city of Sardis (also Sardes, Sart in Turkish), the city of King Croesus with its legendary wealth.

The ancient city, located in the Sart district of the Salihli district in the western province of Manisa, was the capital of the Lydian Kingdom.

Sardis has a long history that goes back as far as 1200 BCE. It was established near the Pactolus River (present Sart Çayı), which carried specks of gold that washed down from the nearby mountains.

Sardis was the major city and capital of Lydians, an Anatolian people. The kings of Lydia Gyges,  Alyattes, and Croesus were fabulously rich and created a powerful empire in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE.

After the defeat of Croesus, Sardis was incorporated into the Persian Empire as one of its most important cities and the seat of a Persian satrap. It was conquered by Alexander the Great and after his death, it became the seat of a Seleucid satrap. Sardis was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 133 BCE and became the administrative center of the Roman province of Lydia and the seat of a Roman proconsul.

The monumental synagogue was the center of Jewish religious life at Sardis during the Late Roman period. Discovered in 1962, the building and its decorations have been partly restored.

The synagogue, an important venue for faith tourism, is now open to tourists, and its mosaic stones on the floor were laid by women in accordance with the original.

Sardis Synagogue İn Manisa. Photo: DHA

Archaeological excavations started 159 years ago in the ancient city of Sardis and still continue. Many structures and artifacts from Lydian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and other cultures have been unearthed during the excavations in the ancient city, which was the home of various settlements and many civilizations for over 5,000 years. It is also home to the largest synagogue of the ancient ages.

Sardis, which played an important role in the spread of Christianity to the West in the revelation part of the Bible, also has special importance in terms of religion. The synagogue, which has traces of the Jewish community’s life, still preserves its splendor.

The mosaic stones on the floor of the Sardis Synagogue, which was covered with an iron roof two years ago and where renovation works started on the floor last year, are being repaired with great care by nine village women. White mosaic stones of the floor are brought from the tumuli of Bintepe and black mosaic stones are brought from Antakya.

Village women take part in the renovation works of the largest synagogue of the ancient world, located in the ancient city of Sardis.

Speaking about the works carried out in the ancient city, the head of the excavations, Professor Nicholas Cahill, said that the works continue this year in many different parts of the city.

“The synagogue was unearthed in 1963. The mosaics on the floor of the synagogue have been removed and replaced with modern iron panels. But because of the diggings, there are many gaps. Together with the women, we repair those gaps on the floor and restore the gaps with mosaic stones in accordance with their original form,” Cahill said.

Speaking of the structure of the synagogue, Cahill stated: “It is an interesting structure, the largest synagogue in the ancient world and a very luxurious one. Its floor is covered with mosaic and its walls are covered with colored marble. The names of those, who paid for the construction of the structure, are written on the wall, and the inscription on the wall writes in Greek who paid for its construction.”

The table with eagles on the flanks and guarded by lions was made of recycled materials and used for reading Torah scrolls. Photo: Caglar.ca
The table with eagles on the flanks and guarded by lions was made of recycled materials and used for reading Torah scrolls. Photo: Caglar.ca

“Sardis was one of the largest cities in the 6th century B.C. and also the capital of a great empire. With the findings we obtained during the excavations, we reach much earlier periods. We are working to learn the history of the city better,” Professor Cahill added.

The Sardis synagogue was entered through a colonnaded forecourt from the east. The forecourt was roofed around the sides but open to the sky in the center. Beyond that is the main assembly hall, which is over 50 meters long and can hold nearly a thousand people. Massive stone piers supported the roof of the main hall at a height of about 14 m above the floor.

The synagogue occupied the corner of the Roman bath-gymnasium, converting part of this public building into a Jewish house of worship. The mosaic floors, furnishings, and marble wall decorations were installed at different times; most of those which remain are from the 4th and 5th centuries. The synagogue was abandoned after an earthquake along with much of the rest of the city in the early seventh.

Related Articles

Discovery of immense 4,000-year-old fortifications surrounding the Khaybar Oasis, one of the longest-known Oasis

10 January 2024

10 January 2024

Archaeologists have recently made a groundbreaking discovery in northwestern Arabia, unearthing immense fortifications that date back an astonishing 4,000 years....

Evidence of Brain Surgery performed 3,000 years ago discovered in the ancient city of Tel Megiddo

27 February 2023

27 February 2023

Researchers have discovered a rare instance of delicate cranial surgery, possibly the earliest of its kind in the Middle East,...

New Study shows Early Native Americans in Alaska were freshwater fishermen 13,000 years ago

15 June 2023

15 June 2023

A team led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers has discovered the earliest known evidence that Native Americans living...

Researchers excavating the burial site along Caleta Vítor Bay in northern Chile found an Inka Tunic or unku

15 February 2023

15 February 2023

A recently published study, co-authored by a research professor at George Washington University, looks at the Inka Empire’s (also known...

Archaeologists discover one of the largest Phallus Relief Carving of ancient Rome

28 August 2022

28 August 2022

According to an announcement by the region’s local history museum, a large Roman-era relief carving of a phallus has been...

Sensational Find: 900-year-old Picture Stone! Is Depicted Figure the Legendary Bishop Otto of Bamberg?

19 August 2024

19 August 2024

During construction work in Klotzow (Vorpommern-Greifswald district), one of the most spectacular archaeological finds in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in recent years has...

First direct evidence of drug use as part of Bronze Age ritual ceremonies in Europe

6 April 2023

6 April 2023

An analysis of human hair strands recovered from a burial site in Menorca, Spain, reveals that ancient human civilizations used...

7,600-year-old child skeleton and a silver ring found in Türkiye’s Domuztepe Mound

12 September 2024

12 September 2024

A child skeleton and a silver ring presumed to be used for babies dating back to 7,600 years ago were...

Luxurious Feather Beds of Iron Age Warriors

27 March 2021

27 March 2021

According to a new study, two warriors from the 7th century in Sweden were buried in graves where they were...

8000 years old fingerprint and ceramic production workshop found in İzmir Ulucak Mound

22 August 2022

22 August 2022

It was understood that the structure unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the 8850-year-old Ulucak Mound (Ulucak Höyük), the oldest...

Life in Trabzon Started in This Cave 13,000 Years Ago

12 March 2021

12 March 2021

Karadeniz Technical University Archeology Department academicians found that life in Trabzon started 13,000 years ago in the Koskarlı Cave. Koskarlı...

2.3-meter sword found in 4th-century tomb in Japan

27 January 2023

27 January 2023

The largest bronze mirror and the largest “dako” iron sword in Japan were discovered at the Tomio Maruyama burial mound...

Ancient Herpes DNA Points to Oral Herpes’ Beginnings: First kisses may have helped spread cold sore virus

28 July 2022

28 July 2022

The ancient genomes of the herpes virus, which commonly causes lip sores and currently infects about 3.7 billion people worldwide,...

6000-Year-Old Salt Production House Rewrites Europe’s History

31 March 2021

31 March 2021

Archaeologists in the UK have found an ancient stone age-era salt-production house in North Yorkshire, estimated to be older even...

A princely tomb discovered in the infrastructure project of the A7 Ploieşti-Buzău highway in Romania

20 December 2022

20 December 2022

An impressive archaeological discovery took place on the Ploiești-Buzău section of the Moldova Highway. The excavations uncovered a princely tomb,...