Colour and culture in ancient judaism study of the mural paintings preserved in the archaeological site of magdala, 1^st century ce (Lower galilee)

The city of Magdala hosts one of the few synagogues constructed in ancient Israel during the first century AD and the first to be discovered in the region of Galilee. Its three most outstanding artistic manifestations are the Magdala Stone, whose iconographic motifs are said to represent the Second Temple and make it unique, the mosaic on the floor of the sacred enclosure, and the mural, surviving only partially. In our last field campaigns (2017-2018), we conducted physical-chemical analyses of these remains to identify the materials and manufacturing techniques that were used in their construction. From the results of these analyses we have been able to research economic, social and cultural issues pertaining to the society that lived in this Lower Galilean city at the beginning of the Christian era. We used a combination of microscopic, spectroscopic, chromatographic and other techniques to develop a physical-chemical characterization of the colours preserved on the walls of the synagogue. To interpret our results, we have taken into account the specialized bibliography as well as primary historical sources such as the ‘Mishnah’ and ‘Antiquities of the Jews’ by Flavius Josephus.