MANISA, Turkey — A museum in western Turkey will soon exhibit artifacts from the largest known synagogue of the ancient world, uncovered fully after six decades of American-led excavations at what was once the seat of power of the fabulously rich King Croesus.
The monumental edifice —large enough to hold 1,000 people— emerged from the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, the capital of the Lydian empire in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, when its kings, among them King Croesus, ruled over western Anatolia and minted the world’s first coins.
