Umm el-Kanatir (Ein Keshatot, or “Mother of the Arches”)

For several decades, difficult accessibility, cost considerations, and various other technical constraints prevented the possibility of excavating and reconstructing the synagogue site at Umm el-Kanatir (Ein Keshatot). The site, located in the eastern Golan Heights, was destroyed in the 8^th century AD and since remained a heap of stones, with neither a sign nor evidence of the magnificent structure that once stood there. We were delighted to assist Yeshu Dray of Restoration of Ancient Technology restore the site using new technology and methods he developed.

A crane, on which we mounted our laser scanner, was erected above the excavation site. All mapping and spatial scanning activity was performed from the crane. Work was executed in approximately six stages; in each stage, the upper most layer of the stone heap was removed, thus uncovering another layer of stones beneath it, which was then mapped and scanned anew.

Mapping was executed as follows: The entire excavation work area was scanned and point clouds were created from the scans. Orthophoto images were generated based on the scans and the point clouds and then used to geographically map the precise location of each and every stone in the area using X,Y,Z coordinates. Each stone was allocated a catalog number containing its location data, which was then inserted into the stone on a miniature chip. After each of the stones was given a name and an exact location, it could be associated with the exact place in the original synagogue it fell from, and the entire structure could be reconstructed.