Archaeologists excavating a fourth century synagogue in Galilee have uncovered what is said to be the oldest portrait, in mosaic stone work, of a Jewish warrior.
The Mosaic floor was discovered by archaeologists Zvi Ilan and Emanuel Damati beneath the stone floor of the synagogue which they had uncovered two years ago in their first excavation at the site of ancient Meroth, four kilometers west of Tel Hatzor.
The mosaic shows a Jewish warrior wearing a short Roman tunic and surrounded by his sword, helmet and shield, which leads the excavators to believe he died in battle and was memorialized in the synagogue.
In clear Aramaic script — the language generally spoken by the Jews of Galilee at that period — he is identified as Yodan (Yehuda Bar-Shimon Mani, the name of a well-known Galilee Jewish family of the time.
The archaeologists say the depiction of a non-religious figure in a synagogue was rare at that time, as it was only in the fourth century that the ancient injuction against the depiction of portraits was waived by the rabbis, at least as far as mosaics were concerned.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
