Unearthed: Ancient synagogue mosaic yields nonbiblical images

[Judi Lynn]

Unearthed: Ancient synagogue mosaic yields nonbiblical images
By Michele Chabin | Religion News Service August 12


JERUSALEM — An ancient synagogue mosaic depicting nonbiblical themes — including elephants — has been removed for safekeeping, according to the lead archaeologist who discovered the three-part floor panel earlier this summer.

Jodi Magness, director of the excavations in the ancient Jewish village of Huqoq in the Lower Galilee, said the high-quality, 1,600-year-old mosaic panel, which depicts an array of nonbiblical themes, “has been removed for conservation” until the synagogue is fully excavated in several years’ time.

Magness, a professor of Judaism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her team have been digging at the site every July for four years.

Until now, “all stories found decorating ancient synagogues have been taken from the Hebrew Bible,” Magness said.

The nonbiblical mosaic depicts a three-part story. The lower level contains a dying bull and a dying soldier. The center level depicts several armed men dressed in white and an elderly man carrying what appears to be a scroll. At the top is a Greek ruler flanked by soldiers and elephants in battle gear.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/unearthed-ancient-synagogue-mosaic-yields-nonbiblical-images/2014/08/12/efe82de6-223d-11e4-8b10-7db129976abb_story.html

[theHandpuppet]

1. Fascinating

The first thing that came to mind when I read the word "elephants" was that perhaps this was a depiction of an encounter with Hannibal. I saw later on in the article I'm not the only one entertaining that thought!