Matthieu
Richelle, commenting on the various functions of city gates in Old Testament
times, wrote the following which has importance to recent studies vis-à-vis pre-exilic synagogues:
. .
.several clues lead us to think that wider activities [than defensive roles]
could have taken place at city gates. First of all, there could have been
religious activities, since small altars have sometimes been found in the immediate
vicinity of such gates. At Bethsaida (et-Tell), no fewer than eight stelae that
were probably used for religious purposes have been found near the gate, and
niches at the corners of its towers may have housed others. Similarly,
immediately behind the gate at Khirbat al-Mudaynah, in the Wadi ath-Thamad (in Jordan),
was situated a sanctuary that included a stone altar. Excavations there have
also unearthed a long stone object with an inscription on it mentioning its
function as an “incense altar” (the same word is used in Exod 30:1). (Matthieu
Richelle, The Bible and Archaeology [Peabody,
Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2018], 13, comment in square brackets added for clarification)