This past Holy Week, we remembered one of the figures closest to Jesus: Mary Magdalene. According to the Gospels, she walked the streets of Jerusalem and witnessed his death, accompanied his burial, and was the first to see him resurrected. But before being present in Jerusalem, her story began here, in Magdala–Taricheae, her hometown.

Thanks to archaeological excavations, today we can walk through the very spaces that were part of everyday life in the first century, along the same streets she would have walked before continuing her journey to Jerusalem. Magdala was a prosperous fishing town with a vibrant commercial life. Excavations have revealed houses, ritual spaces (miqva’ot), warehouses, a port, and above all, a synagogue remarkable for its exceptional state of preservation and its decoration with frescoes and a mosaic floor. At its center, archaeologists discovered the famous "Magdala Stone," carved with a relief that likely represents the Temple of Jerusalem. This unique artifact, unparalleled to date, points to a profound spiritual connection between Galilee and the Holy City, much like the one experienced by Mary Magdalene.

While in Magdala, archaeology reveals a local Jewish community deeply connected to Temple traditions—through its synagogue, ritual baths (miqva’ot), and limestone purification vessels—in Jerusalem, excavations have uncovered direct remains of the Second Temple itself: walls, stairways, streets leading up to the Temple, ritual baths (miqva’ot) surrounding the Temple precincts, and inscriptions evidencing the city’s religious and political centrality. One such inscription is the Soreg, written in Greek, warning non-Jews not to pass beyond the balustrade that separated the public areas from those reserved exclusively for Jews, under penalty of death.

This inscription highlights the importance of the Temple in Jerusalem as a fundamental sacred space for Judaism, while simultaneously providing clear evidence of the presence of Greek-speaking pilgrims from the Hellenistic world. It is important to note that Greek was, at the time, the lingua franca of the region. In fact, many Jews living abroad (in the Diaspora), for example in Egypt, spoke Greek as their primary language. In contrast, according to some researchers, local Jews predominantly spoke Aramaic in daily life, while Hebrew remained in use for religious and literary purposes.

Magdala, with its synagogue and ritual baths, reflects a devotion whose heart was anchored in Jerusalem. Thus, both Magdala and Jerusalem, through archaeology, offer two complementary perspectives on Jewish life in the time of Jesus: one rooted in the everyday rhythms of Galilee, and the other in the sacred center of the Jewish world.

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