Life Of Galilean Sages Described On 1,800-Year-Old Hebrew Inscriptions Can Confirm Ancient Legends

AncientPages.com - Two inscription of great historical importance have been found in the Western Galilee town of Peqi’in in Israel.

The 1,800-year-old inscriptions were found in in the courtyard of an ancient synagogue. Archaeologists and historians find the text highly significant because it tells about the lives of two Galilean sages.

The 1,800-year-old inscribed stone.. Photo credit: Beit Zinati via The Jerusalem Post

One of the sages was Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai, author of The Book of Zohar (The Book of Radiance). It is believed that in the second century CE, a single man was granted the spiritual knowledge that Kabbalists had accumulated for 3,000 years before his time.  Also known as  Rashbi, he was active after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E.

Rashbi was born and raised in the Galilee, a mountainous region in today’s Northern Israel. Even as a child, he was not like other children his age. Questions such as, “What is the purpose of my life?” “Who am I?” and “How is the world built?” plagued him and demanded answers.

In those days, life in Galilee was very harsh because the Romans persecuted Jews and continually invented new laws to make their lives more difficult.

Ancient legends tell that Rashbi and his son fled to the Galilee, hid in a cave at Peqi’in, a village in the north of Israel, and remained there for thirteen years. During that time, they delved in the secrets of the wisdom of the hidden. Their efforts succeeded, and they discovered the entire system of creation.

The discovered ancient inscriptions could perhaps confirm the legends.

The entrance to the ancient synagogue at Peqiʽin, Israel. Photo: Ritvo, courtesy of Beit Zinati.

“The Talmudic and Midrashic sources tell of the Galilean sages that lived in Peqi’in, including Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who hid from the Romans in a cave,” IAA inspector in the Western Galilee Yoav Lerer said.

“However, there are those who disagree with the identification of the location of Peqi’in. I believe that these inscriptions will add an important tier to our knowledge about the Jewish settlement in the village of Peqi’in during the Roman and Byzantine periods.”

According to Ze’ev Elkin, Israeli Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage, Peqiʽin “is one of the most significant sites in the Galilee and is a place where there has always been a Jewish presence,” as cited by The Algemeiner.

This is one of the reasons why Restoration work has been underway for the past year at Peqi’in’s ancient synagogue, and at the nearby visitor center in Beit Zinati, which will together tell the story of the Jewish presence in the town over the last 2,000 years.

The site will also focus on the history of the Zinatis, the town’s oldest Jewish family, whose last surviving member — Margalit Zinati — still resides in a house next door to the synagogue.

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