House of Study at Meroth

At the southern end of the renovated, seventh-century Meroth synagogue, a complex of rooms served as a Meroth community center. In the photo above we see this complex from the east. In the right foreground, a classroom for children appears as a raised platform with one column on its left wall. To the left of the classroom and behind it as well in the upper center of the photo, a courtyard extends.

At the upper left of the photo, to the left of the courtyard, is a beth midrash, a house of study for adults. Remains of stone benches line the walls of the beth midrash. Originally, fine mosaics covered the floor throughout (reconstruction drawing, below).

One of these mosaics (below), on the south side of the beth midrash, under an archway, illustrates Isaiah 65:25: “The wolf and the lamb shall graze together.” Beneath an inscription of the Isaiah passage, an almost obliterated wolf and lamb stand on either side of an amphora filled with water. The seventh century was a troubled time for Jews in the Galilee, ruled first by the Byzantines, then conquered by Persians, ruled again by the Byzantines and then, finally, conquered by Arabs. Perhaps this mosaic reflects the people’s hope for a new era of peace.