Magdala (

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

: מגדלא, ''Magdala'', meaning "tower";

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: , ''Migdal''; ar, المجدل, ''al-Majdal'') was an ancient

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

city on the shore of the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...

, north of

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...

. In the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cent ...

it is known as Magdala Nunayya (

: מגדלא נוניה, meaning "Tower of the Fishes"), and which some historical geographers think may refer to Tarichaea, literally the place of processing fish. It is believed to be the birthplace of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

. Until the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, a small Palestinian Arab village, al-Majdal, stood at the site of ancient Magdala, while nowadays the modern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i municipality of Migdal extends to the area. Archaeological excavations on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) conducted in 2006 found that the settlement began during the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

(between the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE) and ended during the late Roman period (3rd century CE). Later excavations in 2009–2013 brought perhaps the most important discovery in the site: an ancient

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

, called the " Migdal Synagogue", dating from the

Second Temple period The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Je ...

. It is the oldest synagogue found in the Galilee, and one of the only synagogues from that period found in the entire country, as of the time of the excavation. They also found the Magdala stone, which has a seven-branched menorah symbol carved on it. It is the earliest menorah of that period to be discovered outside of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. In 2021, another synagogue from the same period was discovered at Magdala. A collapse layer from the Second Temple period supported the narrative presented by

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

regarding the Roman destruction of Magdala during the

First Jewish–Roman War The First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), sometimes called the Great Jewish Revolt ( he, המרד הגדול '), or The Jewish War, was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews against the Roman Empire, fought in Roman-controlled ...

. Excavations show that after the destruction, during the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods, the city moved slightly to the north.

History

Roman period

Gustaf Dalman writes of Magdala that, "it was the most important city on the western bank of the lake, contributing a wagon-load of taxes ..until

Herod Antipas Herod Antipas ( el, Ἡρῴδης Ἀντίπας, ''Hērǭdēs Antipas''; born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both ...

raised up a rival on the lake by building Tiberias."Schaberg, 2004, pp
56–57
Magdala is also described as "the capital of a toparchy", and is compared to Sepphoris and Tiberias in that it had "administrative apparatus and personnel" though not to the same extent.Schaberg, 2004, p
58
/ref>

Synagogues

The remains of a Roman-period synagogue dated to between 50 BCE and 100 CE were discovered in 2009. The walls of the main hall were decorated with brightly colored frescoes, and inside there was a stone block carved with a seven-branched menorah. In December 2021, a second synagogue dating to the Second Temple period was unearthed at Magdala. It is the first time two synagogues from this period have been found in a single site. The second synagogue found was not as ornate as the first, and probably served the city's industrial zone.

Byzantine period

Recognition of Magdala as the birthplace of

appears in texts dating back to the 6th century CE.Pringle, 1998, p
28
/ref>

Early Muslim period

In the 8th and 10th centuries CE, Christian sources write of a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

in the village that was also Mary Magdalene's house, where

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

is said to have exorcised her of demons. The anonymously penned ''Life of Constantine'' attributes the building of the church to Empress Helena in the 4th century CE, at the location where she found Mary Magdalene's house.

Crusader period

Christian pilgrims to Palestine in the 12th century mention the location of Magdala, but fail to mention the presence of any church.

Mamluk period

Under the rule of the

Mamluks Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

in the 13th century, sources indicate that the church was not destroyed, but was transformed into a stable. In 1283,

Burchard of Mount Sion Burchard of Mount Sion (, also misnamed ''Brocard'' or ''Bocard''; fl. late 13th century), was a German priest, Dominican friar, pilgrim and author probably from Magdeburg in northern Germany, who travelled to the Middle East at the end of the 1 ...

records having entered the house of Mary Magdalene in the village, and about ten years later, Ricoldus of Montecroce noted his joy at having found the church and house still standing.

Mary Magdalene

All four

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

s refer to a follower of Jesus called

, which is usually assumed to mean "Mary from Magdala", although there is no biblical information to indicate whether it was her birthplace or her home. Most Christian scholars assume that she was from Magdala Nunayya, which is possibly where Jesus landed on the occasion recorded in

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

15:39.Merk, August. "Magdala." ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910, 31 Oct. 2009 .

Identification

Magdala's reference in is, in some editions, given as "Magadan"; and in it is "Dalmanutha".

Matthew's "Magdala" or "Magadan"

The New Testament makes one disputable mention of a place called Magdala. Matthew 15:39 of the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...

reads, "And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala". However, some Greek manuscripts give the name of the place as "Magadan", and more recent translations (such as the Revised Version) follow this (). Although some commentators state confidently that the two refer to the same place, others dismiss the substitution of Magdala for Magadan as simply "to substitute a known for an unknown place".

Mark's "Dalmanutha"

The parallel passage in Mark's gospel (Mark 8:10) gives (in the majority of manuscripts) a quite different place name,

Dalmanutha Dalmanutha or Dalmanoutha (δαλμανουθα) is the unknown destination of Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Gallilee after he fed the four thousand, as recorded in Mark's gospel (). It is sometimes believed to be in the vicinity of Magdala, ...

, although a handful of manuscripts give either Magdala or Magadan, presumably by assimilation to the Matthean text—believed in ancient times to be older than that of Mark, though this opinion has now been reversed.

The Talmud's two Magdalas

The

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

distinguishes between two Magdalas only: * Magdala Gadar—One Magdala was in the east, on the River Yarmouk near Gadara (in the Middle Ages "Jadar", now Umm Qais), thus acquiring the name Magdala Gadar. * Magdala Nunayya—There was another, better-known Magdala near

, Magdala Nunayya ("Magdala of the fishes"), which would locate it on the shore of the

. Al-Majdal, a Palestinian Arab village depopulated in the lead up to the

1948 Arab-Israeli war Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form Britis ...

, was identified as the site of this Magdala. The modern

i municipality of Migdal, founded in 1910 and about 6 km NNW of Tiberias, has expanded into the area of the former village.

Josephus's "Tarichaea"

Some researchers think that

refers to Magdala Nunayya by the Greek name Tarichaea, derived from the Greek Τάριχος or ''tarichos'', meaning 'fish preserved by salting or drying', although the matter remains disputed.

Excavations

Between 1971 and 1977 Magdala was partially excavated by Virgilio Canio Corbo and Stanislao Loffreda of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. However, their reports are in Italian and attracted little notice. Excavations at Magdala during 2007-8 were called ''The Magdala Project''. As of 2021, salvage excavations are conducted at Magdala by Y.G. Contractual Archeology Ltd. and under the auspices of The Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming ...

References

External links

''Catholic Encyclopedia''
��Magdala, the two possible locations mentioned in the Talmud Carmelle Grace Cabaron
Major New Excavation Planned for Mary Magdalene’s Hometown, 2007

{{Towns depopulated during the First Jewish–Roman War Ancient villages in Israel Ancient synagogues in the Land of Israel Archaeological sites in Israel New Testament places New Testament Aramaic words and phrases Talmud places Ancient Jewish settlements of Galilee 60s disestablishments in the Roman Empire Sea of Galilee