Jewish art and architecture in the Land of Israel, 70–C. 235

Abstract

The plethora of literary and geographical references to pre-70 CE synagogues, worship, Torah-reading, administrators, and functionaries, despite the dearth of archaeological remains in Eretz Israel, reveals the centrality of the institution of the synagogue to Jewish life before and after 70 CE. Extensive remains of domestic space from pre-70 Jerusalem fit effectively with patterns of Jewish housing found in Galilee later. The evidence of Jewish art and architecture from the latter part of the Early Roman Period, approximately 70-135 CE, through the Middle Roman Period supports the most obvious conclusion that the process of hellenization continued its steady advance on the material culture of ancient Palestine. The example of Jewish tombs and burials seems to reflect a slightly more acquisitive attitude toward borrowing from Graeco-Roman culture, especially in the design of tombs, sarcophagi, and ossuaries. The Bar Kochba era represents the last period of explicit Jewish art on the coins of ancient Palestine.