Israel: Archaeologists unearth mosaic at Roman-era synagogue in Galilee

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – American archaeologists in Israel have unearthed a mosaic at a Roman-era synagogue of the ancient Jewish village of Huqoq in the Lower Galilee, i24News reports.

The archaeological excavations were led this summer by the American University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, i24News reports. This was the eleventh and final excavation at the synagogue, which was itself rebuilt in the early 14th century AD.

The final excavation focused on the southern end of the synagogue’s main hall, i24News said. The newly unearthed mosaic is a large panel with a Hebrew inscription in the middle of it and an Aramaic inscription at the bottom. According to the archaeologists, the Aramaic inscriptions refer to donors who “funded the synagogue’s mosaics or the artists who made them, asking that they be remembered for good.”

The mosaic also has elaborate scenes from nature, including lions, bulls, and predators pursuing their prey. Earlier sections of the mosaic panels discovered at the synagogue in 2012 and 2013 include depictions of the biblical Samson.

Israel’s Antiquities Authorities will now take over the site, which will be opened to the public, i24News said.

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