Eshtemoa, identified as modern as-Samu, was an ancient city named in the Bible (Joshua 21:14).

[1] The remains of the synagogue were identified by L. A. Mayer and A. Reifenberg in 1934,[2] in which site they describe a recess in the wall, once used as a Torah Ark ("Heikhal").

[6] Entry was by any of three doors along its eastern side and one of the three niches recessed into the northern wall functioned as the Torah Ark.

[1] Four seven-branched menorahs were discovered carved onto door lintels and one of them is displayed in Jerusalem's Rockefeller Museum.

[7] Along the northern and southern walls of the synagogue were built two benches, one on top of the other, of which only remnants remain.