Discoveries at Horvat Kur

EXCAVATION: Wofford professor, students participate in archaeological find in Israel (Jenny Arnold, GoUpstate.com).

The excavations at the synagogue, which dates to the Byzantine period, at Horvat Kur in Israel are part of the Kinneret Regional Project. The project is an international research consortium sponsored by the University of Bern, Switzerland; University of Helsinki, Finland; Leiden University, The Netherlands; and Wofford.

Wofford religion professor Byron McCane and students Mason Cantey, Will Moseley and Phifer Nicholson participated in the dig, along with Wofford graduate James Ballard, who is now a student at Yale Divinity School.

On July 21, the researchers uncovered a partially preserved, colorful mosaic floor, showing the upper part of a menorah, along with inscriptions of the names of a man, El’azar; his father, Yudan; and grandfather, Susu or possibly Ooso.

“It’s the kind of thing that doesn’t happen every day,” said McCane of the find. “This is the third time in my career that we’ve found writing of some kind. A little shiver runs up your spine to see writing start to come out of the dirt. The inscriptions are acknowledgement of a gift that was made to finance the mosaic. This is typical in the ancient world, honoring prominent citizens who were generous in their community.”

Past posts on the archaeological work at Horvat Kur are here, here, and here.