This study examines the macamadot, the first public worship institution in local communities as described in rabbinic literature. I systematically examine every instance of the terms macamad/ot in the rabbinic sources and then explore the macamadot in context of comparative religious practices in antiquity. Scholars identified the macamadot as the forerunner of the synagogue and the first form of local daily public worship. Whereas up to now the macamadot were understood as dependent on the Temple cult, this study demonstrates that the rabbinic texts, tannaitic and amoraic, define the local daily recital of the creation story from a Torah scroll to be the vital ritual of the institution.