ABSTRACT
The story of women in the ancient synagogue is a difficult one to reconstruct, not least because synagogue studies today are in a state of flux, with new material forcing much re-evaluation and many of the old theories foundering (Meyers 1992:259). This chapter will begin with a brief survey of the archaeological evidence for synagogues in the Graeco-Roman world – evidence that undermines the setting up of women in the ancient synagogue as a foil for women in the early house-church. Two questions will then be addressed: (1) Were women’s galleries or barriers between the sexes common in ancient synagogues? (2) How was seating arranged with respect to the sexes? An effort will be made to keep the archaeological evidence in context – that is, to correlate it as much as possible with the relevant literary and inscriptional data. In order to address the question of seating arrangements, it will be necessary to examine some of the evidence on women in public settings from the wider Graeco-Roman context, both pagan and Christian.
