Bible Synapse
Magdala stone
Object · before AD 70 · Time of Jesus
See it on the map and timeline
- Date
- before AD 70 (the stone's use in the synagogue)
- Found
- Synagogue at Migdal (ancient Magdala), Sea of Galilee, Israel, 2009. Found in the middle of a synagogue hall during a salvage excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority, led by Dina Avshalom-Gorni, before a hotel was built.
- Now
- Israel Antiquities Authority
- Passages
- Matthew 4:23, Mark 1:39, Matthew 15:39, Luke 8:2
What it is
A carved stone block that stood in the middle of a synagogue hall at Magdala, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Its front shows a seven-branched lampstand (menorah) on a base between two jars, under an arch on pillars; its sides have rows of arches, and its top a rosette. It is among the earliest known images of the menorah, and the excavator believes its carver had seen the lampstand in the Temple.
How it connects to the Bible
Mark says Jesus “preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee”, and this is one of very few synagogues known from that time and region. Magdala is generally taken to be the home town of Mary Magdalene, and the King James text of Matthew 15:39 has Jesus coming “into the coasts of Magdala”.
What scholars debate
Many modern translations read Magadan rather than Magdala in Matthew 15:39, following older manuscripts.