The Israel Antiquities Authority, Kultūros Paveldo Išsaugojimo Pajėgos, the Good Will Foundation, and the Jewish Community of Lithuania are pleased to announce the results of the fifth season of excavations at the Great Synagogue of Vilna (Vilnius) and the Shulhoyf.
This year’s excavation, led by Dr. Jon Seligman of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Justinas Racas of the Kultūros Paveldo Išsaugojimo Pajėgos, focused on the main hall and women’s section (ezrat nashim) of the Synagogue, as well as part of the mikveh (ritual baths) building.
The work, conducted by a mixed team of Lithuanians and Israelis, successfully continued to uncover the main hall of the 17th-century synagogue to the east of the Bimah and Torah Ark (Aron Kodesh), which were excavated previously.
The newly uncovered sections feature coloured terrazzo floors adorned with floral patterns in red, black, and white. Additionally, the women’s section of the synagogue, built in the 18th century, was exposed. On the floor of the synagogue lay the remains of one of the enormous collapsed columns, which fell during the destruction of the synagogue by the Nazis and later by the Soviet authorities in the 1950s. Also found on the floor were remnants of a wall section covered in blue and red paintings, not evident from any known photographs.
Furthermore, the excavation revisited a vast underground cellar beneath the bathhouse and mikveh building. Within the cellar, two large concrete basins from the bathhouse, used to ensure the ritual purity of the water for the congregants, were located. The research team is currently studying the significance of these finds, which could greatly enhance our understanding of these discoveries and the practice of ritual ablution by the Jews of Lithuania.
