Mosaics discovered at Huqoq,

they illustrate biblical scenes

Archaeological digs and discoveries

A team of archaeologists has uncovered two large mosaics under the floor of a Roman-era synagogue at the Huqoq site in northern Israel. Both depict scenes from the Bible, extremely rare subjects for the period in which they were produced.

Image opposite: a view of the excavations under the site's protective tent. Oded Balilty, National Geographic.

Jodi Magness, professor of archaeology at the University of North Carolina and explorer for National Geographic, has been excavating at Huqoq since June 2012. In June 2016, she reinforced her team of volunteers and specialized students. Until then, she had worked in the east wing of the synagogue, where a series of extraordinary mosaics had been discovered. These depicted scenes rather unusual for a synagogue: a Hebrew inscription surrounded by masks inspired by classical theater, cupids and dancers; biblical scenes such as Samson and the foxes according to Judges 15:4, or Samson with the gates of Gaza on his shoulders according to Judges 16:3. Finally, a non-biblical three-part scene never before found in an ancient synagogue. It showed a meeting between two giant figures surrounded by soldiers and elephants armed for war.
There was no evidence that the mosaics extended into the nave, the central part of the synagogue. When digging began, however, it was hoped to find something under the stones and dust of the floor.

One morning, Shua Kisilevitz, deputy director of the Israel Antiquities Service, who was supervising the painstaking removal of the sediment, heard enthusiastic shouts. The students rose to their feet and began to dance and sing: they had just hit a new mosaic fragment in the nave.

Rarity and giant fish

As the surface of the work was carefully cleaned, a perfectly identifiable scene emerged. It showed the Hebrew people crossing the Red Sea, with Pharaoh's soldiers drowning, encumbered by their chariots and horses, and one of them being devoured by a huge fish.

Image opposite: a partial view of the mosaic showing the drowning of Pharaoh's soldiers pursuing the Hebrews through the Sea of Reeds. Oded Balilty, National Geographic.

Only two other depictions of the crossing of the Red Sea were known to exist in synagogues as old as these, one at Dura Europos in Syria and the other at Wadi Hamam in Israel.
A second scene depicted Noah's Ark, a theme that was also exceptional in that only two representations of it were ever discovered. The first was at the Jerash site in Jordan, the second at Misis in Turkey.
Enthusiastically, the researchers extracted the two mosaics from the ground and restored them in the laboratory. They will soon be on display in a museum, while the team returns to the Huqoq site to continue their excavations.

Sources: Mathias Pisana, Le Figaro, July 8, 2016; A.R. Williams, National Geographic, July 5, 2016.