Tiberias-Hammat - Synagogue

Immediately south of the spa treatment center in Tiberias-Hammat is the entrance to an excavation site whose main attraction is a synagogue with a well preserved mosaic pavement. The archeological park is entered through a small museum containing exhibits of folk and religious interest.

There was a synagogue on this site in the third or fourth century, and in the sixth or seventh century a new synagogue was built over its remains, on a higher level. Both synagogues were three-aisled. On the south side of the earlier one is a square recess for the Torah shrine; the later one has a semicircular apse.

Of particular importance is the completely preserved mosaic pavement of the older synagogue, which is unusual in having figural representations. The mosaics in the lateral aisles have simple ornamental designs, but the mosaic in the central aisle is richly patterned. It consists of three parts.