World’s oldest synagogue unearthed in southern Russia

A synagogue from the Second Temple period and an entire Jewish quarter that stood for about 500 years was recently uncovered in southern Russia.

The historical finds, discovered in the ancient Greek city of Phanagoria, include a Holy Ark, a bimah for reading the Torah and a seven-branched menorah.

"The community kept all the laws and traditions," says the current rabbi of the area, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Lazar. Among the moving finds were charity funds, Hebrew inscriptions on kosher food products, and many tombstones with Jewish symbols, testifying to a thriving and observant Jewish community.

The magnificent synagogue, built at the beginning of the first century CE, was located in the prestigious area of the city. A vibrant Jewish quarter developed around it, which included a winery, garden, residential buildings and a sophisticated water system. 58 copper coins were found at the site, some near the bimah and benches.

The prosperous community was destroyed in the sixth century by Berber tribes, as evidenced by stone ball remains found at the site. The city was rebuilt after about 130 years, but finally disappeared in the seventh to ninth centuries AD.

* Arutz 7 contributed to this article.