Anim Synagogue (Ḥorvat ʽAnim) is an archaeological ruin of a Byzantine-period Jewish synagogue located in the Yatir Forest of Israel/Palestine’s Southern District, at the site known as Lower Ghuwein (Khirbet Ghuwein al-Taḥta).
The site is identified with the biblical settlement of Anim mentioned in Joshua 15:50 and with the late-antique village of Anaia. Its position in the southern Hebron hills placed it along routes connecting rural agricultural communities with larger population centers.
The synagogue functioned as the focal religious institution for the Jewish inhabitants from roughly the 4th to the 7th century CE. Excavations carried out in 1988–1989 by Zvi Ilan and Dan Urman uncovered a well-preserved hall built of hewn stone, portions of walls rising up to 3.5 meters, and evidence of successive flooring phases, including an earlier mosaic surface beneath later flagstone paving.
Abandonment appears to have occurred in the early Islamic period, after which the structure gradually fell into ruin. Today the remains form part of a publicly accessible heritage zone within the Yatir Forest.
Circa 220 CE
The synagogue follows the basilical layout characteristic of Late Roman–Byzantine Jewish architecture. The main hall is rectangular, approximately 14.5 by 8.5 meters, and oriented east–west with the entrance facing the historic city of Jerusalem. No interior columns were found, indicating that the prayer space was a single open hall rather than a colonnaded basilica. Stone benches built along the western and southern walls provided seating for congregants. The original mosaic flooring, largely fragmentary, was later covered with flagstones, suggesting a subsequent refurbishment phase.
The eastern entrance preserves portions of its stone lintels. Attached to the hall was a portico leading into an open courtyard, flanked by ancillary rooms that likely served communal or administrative purposes. Fragmentary inscriptions recovered at the site point to dedicatory or ornamental elements once incorporated into the building, though the surviving texts are incomplete.
Beyond the synagogue itself, the settlement includes numerous rock-cut installations such as cisterns and cave dwellings, reflecting the rural, self-sustaining character of the community. Modern conservation efforts have focused on stabilizing surviving architectural elements and improving accessibility, ensuring that the remains of Anim Synagogue continue to serve as a testament to Jewish life in the southern Judean hills during Late Antiquity.
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The Madain Project is an online archive of Abrahamic History and Archaeology.
Abrahamic History & Archaeology is the study of history and archaeology with respect to the three Abrahamic Faiths without considering the religious and theological aspects. The goal of Abrahamic History is to understand how and why the religious doctrines and behaviours have evlovled and changed over time. Searching for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why and how these have influenced the three major Abrahamic religions.
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