Khirbet Amodam is an archeological site in the Beit Netofa Valley in the area of the Golani Interchange. Remains of a building that apparently served as a synagogue were found at the site.
Pillar Field National Park
In Sde Amudim National Park you will find the remains of an ancient synagogue in the Lower Galilee which was built in the Roman period. Scattered around the synagogue building are decorated stones that formed part of the building (under the carob tree at the entrance to the site is another decorated stone).
Arrival: From the Netofa Valley interchange, we will drive in the direction of Zalmon Junction. We will turn right at the first turn onto the road leading to a military facility and immediately make a U-turn and stop next to a small dirt plaza. A narrow path (black marking) leads to the synagogue building (about 200 meters, on the way you have to pass through a gate)
synagogue
The synagogue was built in the late third or early fourth century AD. It is a rectangular structure (14.10×18.75 meters) paved with stone slabs, the façade of which has three openings and faces Jerusalem. The interior of the building is divided by two column columns on pedestals, seven columns per column, a nave (6.21 meters wide) and two citrons (3.15 meters wide each). The inner parallel to the entrance. The building had another side entrance on the east side.
As in the synagogue in Capernaum, no sign of an ark was found in the building, and it would probably have been shaken, like most synagogues of the ancient type.
The decoration of the facade of the synagogue has survived only slightly, as it has been destroyed over the years and its remains are scattered near the synagogue. On the lintel of the middle opening appear professions of two lions facing straight and the leg of each placed on the head of a bull and between them stands an amphora. The side door frame is surrounded by an interlock and is divided into three spins, on which are roses and an animal figure that has been almost completely destroyed. The column headings are in the generational style, and their processing is rough.
An Aramaic inscription was discovered on the site, which reads: “Yoezer Hazana / and Shimon / Achoi Abdu / Hadan Tara Damari / Shamia”
According to the researchers, a source is needed at the place where Kfar Uziel, the residence of the “Aviya” priests’ shift, is located. According to archaeologist Dr. Dror Ben-Yosef, Horbat Amudim should be identified with Kfar Nimra,a settlement mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud by Rabbi Hona: The preservation of the name ‘Nimra’ depends first and foremost on the remains of the village of Nimrin, located about two kilometers southeast of Horbat Amudim.
In addition, significant Jewish remains (synagogue and inscriptions) from the Roman and
Byzantine periods were found in Horbat Amudim, in accordance with the words of Rabbi Hona, which in
dicates a village that was considered a distinctly Jewish settlement.
The identification of ‘Kfar Uziel’ should be preferred, ac
cording to Ben-Yosef, near the locality of Uzier (in the Beit Netofa Valley), which preserves a component from the name Uziel.
