الفهرس 
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Abstract
In order to research such issues, the study is dividing into three chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to an examination of the origin of the Jewish synagogue. It starts by discussing the state of the previous researches in order to get a fair picture of the history of this field and its current results. Then it traces and investigates the earliest available evidence, and finally it tries to suggest a new probability to explain the origin of the Jewish synagogue. In this chapter, the investigation is not limited to the Hellenistic Egyptian available evidence but we follow the earliest evidence within a wider range. The chapter deals with ostraca from Elath, epigraphy and papyrus from Egypt, architectural remains from Delos, and the Hebrew scripts references. By doing so, a new probable light may be providing. The probability tries to suggest by this chapter is, as far as the researcher knows, an unprecedented view based on a verse of the Holy Qur’an. However, our reliance on a verse of the Holy Qur’an does not mean to turn into a theological study. The paper is firstly and lastly a historical and archaeological study but it attempts to present a probable allusion to a verse of the Holy Qur’an, probably, relevant to our topic. The second chapter deals with the Jewish synagogue in Greek and Egyptian perspectives. It tries to investigate particularly two of the rich indications of the surrounding culture’s influences; the royal family ὑπὲρ formula and the right of asylum. Our main source in this regard is the available dedications of the Jewish synagogue in the land of Egypt. Indeed, they provide a rich reference to the state of the building as a part of the surrounding environment. However, the chapter attempts to suggest and investigate several key issues and questions. Moreover, the third chapter of the thesis is concerned with the institutional aspects of the ancient Jewish synagogue. The chapter investigates the synagogue’s status to judge its institutional character, in quest of particular qualifications. However, the focusing is on the institutional aspects, the chapter tries to investigate the Jewish synagogue’s absorbance and interaction with its surrounding community.
Hence, the present study is of a historical and archaeological object. It considers different scholarly views. It depends on the archaeological, documentary and literary evidence such as the architectural remains, epigraphical and papyrological references, the allusions of Philo and Josephus’s works, and the Old Testament scripts. Finally, other key research tool is the analogy. The comparison and logical deductions are utilizing as primary tools for assessing the evidence in order to construct hypotheses and reach conclusions.
Expressly, it is not intending for the research to be an exhaustive study of the Jewish synagogue in Hellenistic Egypt, an issue that is too complex to be covered in such a limited treatise. In other words, we may probably say that it is just an attempt to examine a particular state of the Jewish synagogue in Egypt.