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The emergence of the Jewish synagogues has nothing to do with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, but the latter strengthened their religious function. There are literary references to upwards of a dozen synagogues in Judea and Galilee before the destruction of the Temple: in the New Testament, in Josephus, in the Damascus Document, and in early rabbinic literature. There is archaeological evidence for Gamla, Masada, Herodion, Jerusalem, and probably Capernaum.¹⁰⁶ A political and social component may be deduced from the archaeological findings as well. An impressive testimony is the Theodotos inscription in Jerusalem, a founder inscription which also lists the functions of the building complex:¹⁰⁷

(1) Theodotos, son of Vettenos, priest and

(2) synagogue ruler, son of a synagogue

(3) ruler, grandson of a synagogue ruler,

(4) built the synagogue for the read-

(5) ing of the law and for the teaching of the commandments and

(6) the hostel and the side rooms and the

(7) water installations for lodgings for those

(8) from afar, who have need (of these facilities). It (the synagogue) was built

(9) by his fathers and the elders and Simonides.¹⁰⁸

The buildings-complex comprised the actual synagogue building for the reading of Torah and teaching the commandments, residential facilities for pilgrims, and the water installations for cultic purification. For officers in the synagogue (congregations) only the »ruler of the synagogue« is mentioned, an office known from the New Testament (Galilee: Mark 5:22, 35, 36, 38; Luke 8:49; 13:14; Asia Minor: Acts 13:15).

In summary, »Before 70, the synagogue in Judea certainly did not replace the Temple as the central institution; but with its new tasks the synagogue became a key pillar of local Jewish life. The basis for continuity in the time of the destruction of the Temple had thus already been laid in the generations before.«¹⁰⁹