Bluebonnet
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:59 am Posts: 6532 Location: Friendswood, TX
|
 Mosaic in Israel shows biblical Samson
By Joe Sterling, CNN updated 12:51 PM EDT, Wed July 4, 2012
CNN) -- Archaeologists are reveling in the discovery of an ancient synagogue in northern Israel, a "monumental" structure with a mosaic floor depicting the biblical figure of Samson and a Hebrew inscription. The synagogue -- dating to the fourth and fifth centuries in both the Talmudic and late Roman periods -- is in Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village in the country's Galilee region, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said. Jodi Magness, a professor of early Judaism in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the building was found in a recent excavation. She called the find "exciting" and described the "very high quality of the artwork" in the mosaic, crafted with "tiny colored stone cubes." Only a few late Roman period synagogues contained mosaics with biblical scenes, said Magness, one of the leaders of a U.S., Israeli and Canadian team engaged in the digs. "This discovery is significant," she said, calling the site "extraordinary" and "stunning."
snip
Read more here (and see the photo):
_________________ The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. - FDR
|