MAODALA
523
MAQDALA
set forth on the ceiling in a vu^t Hvmbulical compo-
sition representing Religion as the inspiration of
Learning. Science and Art. On the side walls of the
gallery the following subjects appear: Philosophy,
personified by St. Justin endeavouring to prove to
the Jew, Tryphon, the superiority of Christianity;
Theology is represented by St. Thomas Aquinas on a
visit to St. Bonaventure; mnguages and Literature by
the Palatine School of Charlemagne and Alcuin;
Justice by St. Louis seated under the oak of Vincennes;
Eloquence by St. Bernard preaching the second cru-
sade at V^zelay; Poetry by Dante in rapt contem-
Slation of the heavens. Then comes Christopher
olumbus landing at San Salvador and thanking
God for having given him the grace "of carrying His
name and His holy religion beyond the confines of the
known stars; next, Michelangelo, submitting plans
for St. Peter's Basilica to Pope Paul III; Palestrina
on his knees before Pius IV, pleading the cause of
sacred music; Father Cataldmo evangelizing the In-
dians during the conquest of Paraguay; Cond^ thanking God for the victory of Rocroi; Mgr de Belzunce
ministering to the plague-stricken; Volta in his labo-
ratory at Como among his alembics and his retorts
giving thanks to the God of Science; finally Bossuet
teachmg history to the Dauphin.
This ensemble of painting is assuredly one of the most beautiful works of Christian Art during the nine- teenth century. Without going to Marseilles we can form some idea of it by turning over tJie leaves of the album in which Sirouy has skilfully reproduced the various subjects of this vast epopee. Magaud has shown in many other less important paintings, that he could treat artistic subjects with the mind of an en- lightened Christian. For instance, The Probatica Pool"; "The Slaughter of the Innocents"; "The Christians in the prisons, aided by their brethren "; "The Holy Family" in St. Lazarus's Church, Mar- seilles; eight decorative compositions for the chapel of the " Carmehns " foimded m 1621 by the officers of the Confraternity of the Scapular; "Jeremias re- proaching the Jews with their iU-deeds".
Servian, Magattd, VariisU, Uchefdlcole, Vhomme, 36 etchin^p apart from the text (Paris, 1908); Sirouy. i4/6tim de la Oalene hx8(orique du CercU reliffieux de MareeiUs (Paris, s. d.).
Gaston Sortais.
Magdala (Hebr. Migdal = tower, fortress; Aramaic Magdala; Greek Ma75d\tt). — It is perhaps the Migdal- El mentioned in the Old Testament (Jos., xix, 38; be- longing to the tribe of Nephtali. St. Jerome in his version of Eusebius's "Chronicle" supposes the place to be in the neighbourhood of Dor (Tanturah) on the sea-coast; Kiepert, on the contrary, identifies it with 'Athlit (Caatellum Peregrinorum), The territory of Nephtali, however, never extended so far to the west. According to Matt., xv, 39, after the second multipli- cation of loaves, Jesus went with His Apostles into the country of Macedan, the name given in various forms (by many of the best authorities, H, B, D, Old Lat., Old Syr. , Vulg. ) . Very many earlier authorities, how- ever, give Magdala instead of Maeedan (15 Greek un- cials, the Minusculi, 1 Old Lat., Armen., Boh., Mth,, Syr., Hex.). The parallel passage in Mark, viii, 10, reads in most recensions Dalmanutha (only D, Syr. Sin. Old Lat. with one exception, Goth., and some Minusculi agree with the name in Matthew). A solu- tion is rendered difficult by the fact that the situation is unknown, and the direction cannot be inferred from the Gospel. The most plausible suggestion is that of van Kasteren who thinks Dalmanutha is the modern El-Delhamiye, about four miles south of the southern end of the lake near the Jordan, north of the inBux of the Yarmuk. He also thinks that Magedan is repre? sen ted by Ma*ad, still more to the south (the change of gkimd to ayin offers no difficulty). In sound the transition from Magdala to Biagadan is not imposBible in palfiBOgraphy; it is indeed easily intelligible.
The existence of a Galilean Magdala, the birthpluoe
or home of St. Mary Magdalen (i. e. of Magdala), is in-
dicated by Luke, viii, 2; Mark, xvi, 9; Matt„ xxvii, 56,
61; XX viii, 1, and in the parallel passages, John xx, 1,
18. The Talmud distinguishes between two Magdalas
only. One was in the east, on the Yarmuk near
Gauara (in the Middle Ages Jadar, now Mukes), thus
acquiring the name of Magdala Gadar; as a much fre-
quented watering place it was called Magdala Ceba
- ayya (now El-Hammi, about two hours' journey trom
the southern end of the lake to the east, near a railway station, HaifarDera*a). According to various pas- sages in the Talmud, there was another Magdala near Tiberias, at a distance from it of about tliree and three-quarter miles. Only one mile being given in the Palestinian Talmud, several different places have been identified with it; wrongly, however, for according to the parallel passages in the Babylonian Talmud and the context of the passage, the reading must be con- demned as an error. This Magdala, perhaps to dis- tinguish it from the place similarly named east of the Jordan, is called Magdala Nunayya, "Magdala of the Fishes", by which its situation near the lake and plen- tiful fisheries appear to be indicated. According to the Talmud, Magdala was a wealthy town, and was destroyed by the Romans because of the moral de- pravity of its inhabitants. Josephus gives an account (Bell, jud.. Ill, x) of the taking of a town in Galilee, which was situated on the lake near Tiberias ana which had received its Greek name, TarichcfiB (the He- brew name is not given), from its prosperous fisheries. Plinv places the town to the south of the lake, and it has been searched for there. But a due regard for the various references in Josephus, who was often in the town and was present at its capture, leaves no doubt that Taricheae lay to the north of Tiberias and thirty stadia from it (about three and three-quarter miles;. The identity of Taricheae with Magdala Nunayya is thus as good as established.
After the destruction of the Temple, Magdala Nu- nayya became the seat of one of the twenty-four priestly divisions, and several doctors of law sprang trom the town. Christian tradition sought there the home of Mary Magdalen. If we are to believe the Melchite patriarch, Euthychius of Alexandria, the brother of St Basil, Peter of Sebaste, knew of a church at Magdala in the second half of the fourth centuiy, which was dedicated to the memory of Mary Magda- len. About the middle of the sixth century, the pil- grim Theodosius reckoned Magdala's distance from Tiberias in the south and Heptap^on (now 'Ain Tabgha) in the north at two miles. At all events the reckoning as to the relative distance between the two places is approximately right. At the end of the eighth century St. Wilubald went as a pilgrim from Tiberias past Magdala to Caphamaum. In the tenth century the church and house of Mary Magdalen were shown. The Russian abbot Daniel (11(%) and the Franciscan Quaresimus (1616) give the place the name of Magdalia. The small, poverty-stricken village, El- MeJdel, has kept the name and situation to this dav. It lies about midway between Tabaryya and 'Am Tabgha, at the south end of the little fruitful plain of Genesareth, and rests on the declivities of tiie moun- tain which projects over the lake. Towards the west the connexion with the inner country of Galilee is effected through Wadi Hamam, pa^t Qam Hattin. In the caverns of Wadi Haman,' about half an hour to the west of Magdala, the Galilean robber bands during the time of the first Herod used to find a safe refuffe. Later the caves were occupied by hermits, until finally a stronghold was established there by the Arabs. JVfejdel, with its few dirt^ huts and single palm tree, is all that is left of luxunous Magdala. No ruins of any importance have yet been imcovered.
Beskiei the usual diotionaries of the Bible, oonsult Oe
Di§ Oritchafttn u, Ortnam OalUlUu nach jQu^i^k^^^'UidjAm
