Editing Synagogue (section)

==World's oldest synagogues==
{{Main|List of oldest synagogues}}
[[File:Sardis_Synagogue,_late_3rd_century_AD,_Sardis,_Lydia,_Turkey_(19331773400).jpg|thumb|[[Sardis Synagogue]] (3rd century CE) [[Sardis]], Turkey]]
[[File:Duraeuropa-1-.gif|thumb|right|[[Fresco]] at the Dura-Europos synagogue, illustrating a scene from the [[Book of Esther]], 244 CE.]]

* The earliest evidence for a synagogue is a stone-carved synagogue dedication inscription found in Lower [[Egypt]] and dating from the second half of the 3rd century BCE.<ref>{{cite book|last=Pfeiffer|first=Stefan|title=Griechische und lateinische Inschriften zum Ptolemäerreich und zur römischen Provinz Aegyptus|series=Einführungen und Quellentexte zur Ägyptologie|volume=9|publisher=Lit|location=Münster|year=2015|language=German|page=100}}</ref>
* The oldest [[Samaritan]] synagogue, the [[Delos Synagogue]], dates from between 150 and 128&nbsp;BCE, or earlier and is located on the island of [[Delos]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Donald D. Binder |url=http://www.pohick.org/sts/delos.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907135251/http://www.pohick.org/sts/delos.html |archive-date=September 7, 2012 |title=Delos }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=July 2017}}
* The [[Dura-Europos synagogue|synagogue of Dura Europos]], a Seleucid city in north eastern Syria, dates from the third century CE. It is unique. The walls were painted with figural scenes from the Tanakh. The paintings included Abraham and Isaac, Moses and Aaron, Solomon, Samuel and Jacob, Elijah and Ezekiel. The synagogue chamber, with its surviving paintings, is reconstructed in the National Museum in Damascus.
* The [[Old Synagogue (Erfurt)|Old Synagogue]] in [[Erfurt]], Germany, parts of which date to c.1100, is the oldest intact synagogue building in Europe. It is now used as a museum of local Jewish history.
*The [[Kochangadi Synagogue]] (1344&nbsp;CE to 1789&nbsp;CE) in [[Kochi]] in the [[Kerala]], built by the [[Cochin Jews|Malabar Jews]]. It was destroyed by [[Tipu Sultan]] in 1789&nbsp;CE and was never rebuilt. An inscription tablet from this synagogue is the oldest relic from any synagogue in India. [[List of synagogues in Kerala|Eight other synagogues exist in Kerala]] though not in active use anymore.

[[File:The Paradesi Synagogue during Covid-19 pandemic.jpg|thumb|The [[Paradesi Synagogue]] in Jew Town, Kochi, during the COVID-19 pandemic.]]

* The [[Paradesi Synagogue]] is the oldest active synagogue in the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], located in Kochi, [[Kerala]], in India. It was built in 1568 by [[Paradesi Jews|Paradesi community]] in the Kingdom of Cochin. Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages, and the literal meaning of the term is "foreigners", applied to the synagogue because it was historically used by "White Jews", a mixture of Jews of the Middle East, and European exiles. It is also referred to as the Cochin Jewish Synagogue or the Mattancherry Synagogue. The synagogue is located in the quarter of Old Cochin known as Jew Town and is the only one of the [[List of synagogues in Kerala|eight synagogues]] in the area still in use.
* [[Jew's Court]], Steep Hill, [[Lincoln, England]], is arguably the oldest synagogue in Europe in current use.

===Oldest synagogues in the United States===
[[File:Touro_Synagogue,_Newport,_Rhode_Island.jpg|thumb|[[Touro Synagogue]], the [[Oldest synagogues in the United States|oldest surviving synagogue building]] in the U.S.]]
[[File:Touro Synagogue, Newport, RI.jpg|thumb|right|[[Touro Synagogue]], the [[Oldest synagogues in the United States|oldest surviving synagogue building]] in the U.S.]]
[[File:Interieur van de Portugese synagoge te Amsterdam, SK-A-3738.jpg|thumb|upright|Painting of the interior of the [[Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam)]] by [[Emanuel de Witte]] ({{circa|1680}})]]

{{Main|List of the oldest synagogues in the United States}}
* [[Congregation Shearith Israel]], in [[New York City]], founded in 1654, is the oldest congregation in the United States. Its present building dates from 1897.
* The [[Touro Synagogue]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], is the oldest Jewish house of worship in North America that is still standing. It was built in 1759 for the [[Jeshuat Israel]] congregation, which was established in 1658.