First Ever Non-Biblical Mosaic Depicting Alexander The Great Discovered Inside A Synagogue

MessageToEagle.com – First non-biblical mosaic with images, probably depict Alexander the Great, have been discovered inside the 5th century synagogue in Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village in Lower Galilee, Israel.

Archaeologists working in an ongoing project in Huqoq synagogue, Israel, have uncovered more mosaics with non-biblical depictions.

The project started in 2012 and about a year ago the first mosaic featuring a non-biblical narrative was revealed.

The new images include a dedicatory inscription, depictions of elephants, roosters, theatre masks, women surrounded by cupids, Greek gods, mythological figures, as well as a historical figure, probably Alexander the Great.

The floor mosaic includes three horizontal strips. A scene at the largest top strip represents a meeting between two men.

One is a bearded soldier wearing battle dress and a purple cloak, leading a bull by the horns, followed by other soldiers and elephants with shields tied to their sides.

The other is a grey-haired, bearded elderly man wearing a ceremonial white tunic and mantle, accompanied by young men with sheathed swords, also in ceremonial clothes.

Since there are no stories in the Hebrew bible including elephants, and battle elephants are associated with Greek armies, beginning with Alexander the Great, the depiction of the historical figure might be that of a Jewish legend regarding the meeting between Alexander and the Jewish High Priest, according to Jodi Magness, an archaeologist from the University of North Carolina.

‘Different versions of this story appear in the writings of Flavius Josephus and in rabbinic literature’.

In 2012 archaeologists uncovered a mosaic showing Samson and the foxes, as described in the book of Judges, in the synagogue’s east aisle. The next summer, a second mosaic showing Samson carrying the gate of Gaza on his shoulders was found. According to Professor Magness, ‘it is not clear if there is a thematic connection between the S amson scenes and the other mosaics in the east aisle’.

Story source.

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