Magdala is one of the most significant archaeological discoveries made around the Sea of Galilee in recent decades. Excavation on the western shore has revealed a town of the first century with an unusual completeness: paved streets, houses and workshops, installations linked to fishing and to the processing of fish, ritual baths fed by groundwater, and harbour structures at the water's edge. At its centre stands a synagogue of the same period, one of the very few known from this era in Galilee, and within it a carved stone block whose decoration has generated intense scholarly discussion about how the Temple in Jerusalem was represented in provincial Jewish worship. The town is identified with the Magdala of the Gospels, home of Mary Magdalene, which places a first-century Jewish settlement and an early Christian memory on the same ground. A modern pilgrimage centre now adjoins the excavation. The film moves between the two — an active archaeological site and a place of devotion — and uses the lakeside setting, where the ancient harbour still meets the water, to remarkable visual effect.
