Early Medieval Synagogue Architecture

Medieval Synagogues

A few early medieval synagogues are still standing. Some of the third- to sixth-century Byzantine synagogues in Palestine, their floors decorated by mosaics with colorful geometrical patterns, images of humans and animals, floral motifs, and signs of the zodiac, were still being used by Jews into the ninth century. 

Still, in the early medieval period, most synagogues were constructed in diaspora communities, generally following local architectural styles. The synagogue in Speyer, Germany, for example, was designed by the same architects as the city’s famous cathedral.

What Did Synagogue Spaces Look Like?

The synagogue buildings that do remain standing are mostly from the Rhineland. These seem to have been relatively small in size. In some cases, the sanctuaries had a few interior columns, differentiating a middle section from two side aisles. The bimah, from which the Torah scroll was read, was placed in the center, and the ark, where the Torah scroll was kept, on the eastern wall. 

A mikveh for ritual immersion, important for Jewish domestic life, was sometimes part of a complex of community buildings, which might also include a study hall. 

While there are no extant synagogues from the early medieval Islamic world, they would presumably have been influenced by mosque architecture of the time, and we can make some conjectures about the interior spaces. Evidence from manuscript illuminations seems to indicate that they would have featured a freestanding wooden raised pulpit, or desk, from which the Torah was read during the service, and the interior would have been decorated with colorful mats or rugs on the floor, oil lamps hanging from the ceiling, and wooden carvings (some of which, from Cairo, still survive). 

There may have been a women’s gallery, perhaps with a separate entrance to the street.

Evidence About Synagogues in the Cairo Geniza

More evidence about the physical space of synagogues in the Islamic world can be gleaned from materials preserved in the Cairo Geniza. For example, eleventh- and twelfth-century inventories of synagogue furnishings mention lamps and candlesticks, tripods to hold the lamps, mats to cover the area where prayers were conducted, curtains for the door of the sanctuary, rich cloths for wrapping the Torah scrolls, as well as numerous Torah scrolls and donated Bible codices, prayer shawls, and even a shofar. Building expense accounts, too, mention the existence of pillars and building materials that included bricks and clay—and lime, perhaps for whitewashing the walls.