Newly discovered 1,600-year-old mosaic sheds light on ancient Judaism

[Sanguine]

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

IMAGE: Elim mosaic detail, Huqoq Excavation Project. Copyright Jim Haberman. All rights reserved. Courtesy: UNC-Chapel Hill. view more
Credit: Copyright Jim Haberman

UNC-Chapel Hill's Jodi Magness, together with a team of researchers and students find the first ancient Jewish depiction of the Elim episode from the biblical book of Exodus

For nine years running, Carolina professor Jodi Magness has led a team of research specialists and students to the ancient village of Huqoq in Israel's Lower Galilee, where they bring to light the remains of a Late Roman synagogue. For weeks during the summer, they unearth history in the form of art. With each excavation season, the students and researchers build on what little is known about the fifth century CE Jewish community of Huqoq and the artists who crafted depictions of biblical stories with tiny cubes of stone, or tesserae.

Jodi Magness, director of the Huqoq excavations and Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism in the Department of Religious Studies in Carolina's College of Arts & Sciences, explains her team's newest findings and how the art they find connects them to texts written thousands of years ago....

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uonc-n1070119.php

Beautiful work.