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Excavation

  • Sinagoga
  • Ostia antica
  •  
  • Italy
  • Lazio
  • Rome
  • Rome

Tools

Credits

  • The Italian Database is the result of a collaboration between:

    MIBAC (Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali - Direzione Generale per i Beni Archeologici),

    ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione) and

    AIAC (Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica).

  • AIAC_logo logo

Summary (English)

  • In 2001 the Department of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin received a five-year permit from the Soprintendenza of Ostia Antica to study the ancient synagogue and its urban environment. Discovered in 1961, the synagogue was originally excavated by M. F. Squarciapino. Subsequent campaigns were undertaken in 1977-79 and 1983-85. These brought to light an area of baths and shops located on the other side of the ancient coastal highway, the via Severiana. To date, little has been published about these excavations. Architectural drawings were never completed for areas uncovered in the 1980s. No final authoritative report of the synagogue excavation exists.

    In 2001 the University of Texas created the Ostia Synagogue Masonry Analysis Project (OSMAP) with two goals. The first aims to supplement the material gathered during previous excavations with new data. Consequently, the OSMAP team devised a methodology for measuring, drawing, elevating, digitally mapping, and analyzing the masonry techniques used in the construction and repair of the synagogue. In subsequent seasons, OSMAP hopes to use these techniques to refine our understanding of the building’s phases. This topic is hotly debated among archaeologists, social historians, and scholars of ancient Mediterranean religion. The second goal aims to provide a definitive plan, architectural history, and digital reconstruction of the synagogue and its neighboring buildings.

    To begin, OSMAP established an official numbering system for this zone of Ostia Antica. Adopting the standard formula used throughout the site, this system designates: (1) the region of the city (“I-IV”) (2) the insula, or block; (3) the number of the building within that block; and (4) the rooms within the building.

    The OSMAP survey region along the via Severiana to the east of the Porta Marina baths (IV.10.1-2) has, accordingly, now been designated Region IV, insulae 14-17. The synagogue itself is designated as IV.17.1, with room numbers 1-18. The edificio con ninfeo is designated as IV.17.2, with room numbers 1-10. The edificio accanto alla via della Scafa is designated IV.17.3, with room numbers 1-4. The Baths of Musiciolus are designated IV.15.2, with room numbers 1-35. The shops which adjoin the baths and face the via Severiana are designated IV.15.1.1-6. In 2001 this system was approved by the Soprintendenza per i beni archeologica di Ostia (Dtt.ssa A. Gallina Zevi) and the head of the Ostian archives (Dtt.ssa E. J. Shepherd).

    The OSMAP team then executed a GIS survey and architectural drawings of the synagogue and its neighboring structures, including for the first time the entire edificio con ninfeo. With the approval of the Soprintendenza, survey points were permanently marked in modern concrete throughout the area with a pin and aluminum tag (‘OSMAP 2001 UT’). These points were linked in by GIS with three survey points already marked by the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut during their campaigns at Ostia (DAI survey points 1013, 1015 and 1136). An additional, digital top-plan of the site was then drawn. The data points will form a valuable reference for future study and excavation.

  • L. Michael White - University of Texas and Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins 
  • Susan Gelb - University of Texas at Austin 

Director

Team

  • Darius Arya - The American Institute for Roman Culture
  • Joanne Spurza
  • Alan Stearman

Research Body

  • The University of Texas at Austin (Ostia Synagogue Masonry Analysis Project, OSMAP)

Funding Body

  • The Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins at the University of Texas at Austin

Images

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