CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA—According to a statement released by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a team of researchers led by Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Dennis Mizzi of the University of Malta has uncovered the fourth-century A.D. mosaic floor just inside the entrance to the synagogue at Huqoq, the site of an ancient Jewish village in Israel’s Lower Galilee. The large panel features a Hebrew inscription framed with a wreath flanked by lions resting their forepaws on bulls’ heads. On each side of the wreath and below it, the names of either the donors who funded the synagogue’s mosaics or the mosaic artists are listed in Aramaic. The border surrounding this panel features hunting animals in pursuit of prey. The excavation team also uncovered sections of mosaics depicting a Philistine horseman and a dead Philistine soldier within the synagogue, while a courtyard paved in stone and a colonnade were found near its eastern wall. For more, go to "Mosaics of Huqoq."
