It's always interesting to read about what was found these days of things from the ancient world.
7/19/2015 @ 10:03AM 6,165 views
Unique Mosaics Found In Ancient Israeli Synagogue Depict Alexander The Great And Samson
Did Alexander the Great meet a Jewish priest, and was this meeting enshrined in a mosaic floor? It’s probably just a legend, but the mosaic is also the first non-biblical one ever to be found in an ancient synagogue, at a site called Huqoq. Since 2011, Jodi Magness, an archaeologist at UNC Chapel Hill, has been leading excavations at Huqoq, near Galilee in Israel. And for the last three summers, she has uncovered fantastic mosaics unlike anything that has been seen before.
Huqoq is the modern name for an ancient Jewish village that, for all intents and purposes, did not seem particularly special when Magness first began to excavate it. A freshwater spring located nearby allowed Huqoq to grow into a large settlement that flourished particularly in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods. The village includes houses and a synagogue, and outside of the settlement are cemetery plots, a wine press and olive press, quarries, and twomiqwa’ot (ritual baths).
Excavations in 2012 revealed there was more to Huqoq than initially imagined as the first mosaics were discovered: an inscription with female faces and a small portion of a scene of Samson with the foxes. In 2013, the team foundSamson carrying the gate of Gaza depicted in a mosaic as well as a mosaic with three horizontal registers showing a meeting between important officials.
Continue reading at:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/07/19/unique-mosaics-found-in-ancient-israeli-synagogue-include-alexander-the-great-and-samson
7/19/2015 @ 10:03AM 6,165 views
Unique Mosaics Found In Ancient Israeli Synagogue Depict Alexander The Great And Samson
Did Alexander the Great meet a Jewish priest, and was this meeting enshrined in a mosaic floor? It’s probably just a legend, but the mosaic is also the first non-biblical one ever to be found in an ancient synagogue, at a site called Huqoq. Since 2011, Jodi Magness, an archaeologist at UNC Chapel Hill, has been leading excavations at Huqoq, near Galilee in Israel. And for the last three summers, she has uncovered fantastic mosaics unlike anything that has been seen before.
Huqoq is the modern name for an ancient Jewish village that, for all intents and purposes, did not seem particularly special when Magness first began to excavate it. A freshwater spring located nearby allowed Huqoq to grow into a large settlement that flourished particularly in the Late Roman and Early Byzantine periods. The village includes houses and a synagogue, and outside of the settlement are cemetery plots, a wine press and olive press, quarries, and twomiqwa’ot (ritual baths).
Excavations in 2012 revealed there was more to Huqoq than initially imagined as the first mosaics were discovered: an inscription with female faces and a small portion of a scene of Samson with the foxes. In 2013, the team foundSamson carrying the gate of Gaza depicted in a mosaic as well as a mosaic with three horizontal registers showing a meeting between important officials.
Continue reading at:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/07/19/unique-mosaics-found-in-ancient-israeli-synagogue-include-alexander-the-great-and-samson