Magdala found?

In the recent Ray Vander Laan seminar that I attended, Ray mentioned some very recent excavations in Galilee that were interesting to Christians. One was a synagogue discovered at the traditional site of Magdala. Magdala will ring a bell with Christians as the home city of Mary Magdalene, who is mentioned 12 times in the New Testament.

According to Matthew 9:35, "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness." Magdala's proximity to Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida would almost certainly would have hosted Jesus himself in the synagogue. Only once have I found a time where Jesus specifically came to Magdala (Matthew 15:39) but no synagogue visit is mentioned. It's my opinion that it may have been the place where Jesus drove the seven "devils" from Mary (Luke 8:2).

The Israeli Antiquities Authority has released a press statement here:

http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1601&module_id=#as

This is an aeriel view of the excavation:

This is the stone that has archaeologists excited. It is the first time a menorah decoration has been found from the Second Temple period (think Herod the Great and Jesus times, 30 BC to 70 AD). The significance is that the artist who carved this relief must have seen the actual menorah in the Temple with his own eyes. Until now, we've based our knowledge of the menorah from Roman artwork.



It just amazes me how the land of Israel testifies over and over again to the accuracy of the Bible!