Excavations at Ancient Nabratein: Synagogue and Environs

The site of Nabratein is situated on a remote promontory in an extensive pine forest northeast of Safed. This report is the sixth and final volume of the Meiron Excavation Project. The discovery in 1981 of the pediment of a Holy Ark from the Nabratein synagogue coincided with the release of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. That coincidence brought much unanticipated press coverage to the expedition and its senior staff, even though we insisted that the discovery of perhaps the earliest synagogue ark was not to be identified with the recovery of the biblical Ark of the Covenant. Although the media attention was totally unexpected, we all did our best to respond to the occasion with honesty and a bit of whimsy. Such coverage of the Nabratein excavation resulted in making many more people interested in archaeology, even if it didn’t solve a biblical mystery. Now we hope that this full publication of the results of our work at the site will afford it a lasting place in the annals of the archaeology of Israel. -from the Preface