Synagogue Night

Stars of Scorpius (center right) and Lyra (left) with its bright star Vega rise above ancient city of Sardis in Turkey. The remains today are 100 km east of Izmir and near the town of Salihli which is the reason for the light dome toward the east. The 2800-year old Sardis was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, one of the important cities of the Persian Empire, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine times. The royal road made by the Persian Empire during Achamenid period some 2500 years ago connected Persepolis with Sardis. Pictured here is the mosaic floor of Sardis synagogue (a Jewish house of prayer) which was used between 2nd and 7th century AD.