THE RECENTLY DISCOVERED SYNAGOGUE and mosaic floor at the site of Huqoq is covered from the perspective of an excavation staff member and a volunteer in two articles. This one interviews Prof. Chad Spigel of Trinity University:
Pair from Trinity help uncover ancient mosaic. He and one of his students worked at the site. Some interesting information on the mosaic:
One portion of the mosaic depicts a biblical scene: Samson exacting fiery revenge against the Philistines for giving away his wife. The other showcases what appear to be two female faces with an inscription that is likely in ancient Aramaic, Spigel said.
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The portion of the mosaic with two women's faces contains a sentence fragment with a word that could mean either “commandment” or “good deed” and another word that refers to “labors,” Spigel said. The phrase might deal with the rewards for following the commandments, though researchers will compare it with inscriptions at other ancient synagogues and texts from the period to fill in the blanks.
The second image is believed to depict a passage from the Old Testament book of Judges in which Samson ties the tails of foxes together and places a torch between them to light the Philistines' crop fields on fire, an act of revenge after his wife was given away to his companion.
“There's another synagogue a few miles away that also has a scene from the Samson stories. So this is the second example we have of a mosaic with a Samson story from the general time period,” said Spigel, adding that they are now looking into this discovery's significance.
The second article interviews volunteer Sarah Nevling:
Of biblical proportions: BHS grad goes on dig of ancient village of Huqoq. She made some discoveries of her own, which have not gotten quite the same press as the mosaic, but are still doubtless of interest for the big picture:
During her dig, Nevling found several ancient, dime-sized coins that turned green after years of corrosion. Once Nevling and her fellow volunteers found the coins, they immediately stopped hoeing and started sifting through the dirt so they could find more.
"We couldn't touch those with our bare hands because of the oil on our hands," Nevling said. "We had to pick them up with trowels and put them in baggies, and they were sent off to be studied in a lab in Jerusalem."
Background
here.
