Ancient Temple Floor Uncovered in Israel
The remains of an ancient synagogue were discovered in northern Israel.
Excavators from a consortium of American schools and the Israel Antiquities Authority unearthed the mosaic floor of a synagogue that dates back to Roman times, according to an Israeli government news release. The remains are located at the ancient city of Huqoq in the Galilee.
Part of the mosaic depicts the biblical scene of Samson placing torches between the tails of foxes, as well as another image of two human faces flanking a medallion with a Hebrew inscription about rewards for those who perform good deeds.
“Our mosaics are also important because of their high artistic quality and the tiny size of the mosaic cubes,” excavation leader Jodi Magness, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said in the release. This, together with the monumental size of the stones used to construct the synagogue’s walls, suggests a high level of prosperity in this village, as the building clearly was very costly.”
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
