Beth Alpha

Other Name: Beit Alpha, Beth Alfa, Beit Alfa
Religion: Jewish

Archaeological Evidences:

Period: Late Roman and/or Byzantine
Excavation: Excavated
Excavators: Eleazar Lipa Sukenik (1929)
Main Finds: Basilica building with apse. Complete mosaic floor with Zodiac, Biblical and other themes.
Identified Structure: Yes
Inscriptions: Hebrew and Aramaic (Naveh 1978: 72-76; CIIP V/2: 1711-1714, 1715-1719), Greek (Roth-Gerson 1987: 29-32; CIIP V/2: 1714-1715).
Mosaics: Yes.
Site Condition: National park with entrance fee.
General view - Gilead Peli all rights reserved

Geographic Details

Geographical Region: Beth Shean Valley
Longitude: 35.42809135
Latitude: 32.51952397
הידידות 600, בית אלפא, ישראל

Open the map in a new window

Selected Bibliography:

Selected Bibliography
  1. Chakovskaya, L. "The Artistic Milieu of the Mosaic of the Beth Alpha Synagogue" in The Synagogue in Ancient Palestine: Current Issues and Emerging Trends. ed. R. Bonnie, R. Hakola & U. Tervahauta, Helsinki, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, 2020: 367-392.
  2. Price, J. J. and Yardeni, A. "Beth Alfa" in Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae. ed. W. Ameling et. al., V/Part 2: Galilaea and Northern Regions, Berlin/Boston, De Gruyter, 2023: 1710-1719.
  3. Siman Tov, A. The Historical Analysis of Archaeological Findings in the Ancient Synagogue of Beth Alpha, Submitted for the Master's Degree. Ramat Gan, Bar Ilan, 2011, (Hebrew).
  4. Roth-Gerson, L. The Greek inscriptions from the synagogues in Eretz-Israel. Jerusalem, Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, 1987: 29-32, (Hebrew).
  5. Naveh, J. On Stone and Mosaic: the Aramaic and Hebrew Inscriptions from Ancient Synagogues. Tel Aviv, Israel Exploration Society, 1978: 72-76, (Hebrew).
  6. Avigad, N. "Beit Alpha" in The New Encyclopedia of Archeological Excavations in the Holy Land. ed. Ephraim Stern, Hillel Geva, Alan Paris, J. (Joseph) Aviram, 1, Jerusalem, Israel Exploration Society; Biblical Archaeology Society, 1993: 190-192.
  7. Sukenik, E. L. The ancient synagogue of Beth Alpha: an account of the excavations conducted on behalf of the Hebrew University. Jerusalem, At the University Press, 1932.
  8. Bregman, M. "The Depiction of the Ram in the Aqedah Mosaic at Beit-Alpha" Tarbiz 51 (2), 1982: 306-309.
  9. Wischnitzer, R. "The Meaning of the Beth-Alpha Mosaic" Bulletin of the Israel Exploration Society 18, 1954: 190-197, (Hebrew).
  10. Spigel, C.S. Ancient Synagogue Seating Capacities. Tubingen, 2012: 154-158.
Bibliographic citation of this page
Ben David, C. Osband, M. Aviam, M. Site: ‘Synagogues.Kinneret.ac.il’, The Bornblum Eretz Israel Website for the Study of Ancient Synagogues, accessed on 15 June 2026, https://synagogues.kinneret.ac.il/synagogues/beth-alpha/

Photos:

Photos
General view - Gilead Peli all rights reserved © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
General view - Gilead Peli all rights reserved
Mosaic, upper part - Gilead Peli all rights reserved © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
Mosaic, upper part - Gilead Peli all rights reserved
Mosaic, lower part and inscriptions - Gilead Peli all rights reserved © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
Mosaic, lower part and inscriptions - Gilead Peli all rights reserved
Sukenik 1930: 111 © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
The Synagogue | Sukenik 1930: 111
Sukenik 1930: 113 © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
Zodiac | Sukenik 1930: 113
Sukenik 1930: 114 © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
Mosaic with Hebrew Inscription | Sukenik 1930: 114
Sukenik 1930: 115 © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
Aramaic and Greek inscriptions | Sukenik 1930: 115
Sukenik 1930: 116 © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
The Aramaic inscription | Sukenik 1930: 116
Wischnitzer 1954:194. Courtesy of the Israel Exploration Society © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
The Mosaic | Wischnitzer 1954:194. Courtesy of the Israel Exploration Society
Wischnitzer 1954:196. Courtesy of the Israel Exploration Society © <i> synagogues.kinneret.ac.il </i>
The Zodiac | Wischnitzer 1954:196. Courtesy of the Israel Exploration Society

Plans and Drawings:

Plans

Links: