Inscriptions of Israel/Palestine

This Zodiac cycle is the earliest found in Palestine so far, and its figures differ significantly from those found at Beth Alpha. In ancient context, the Zodiac can be understood as a schematic system for reckoning time. The fixed calendar akin to a modern one was not introduced until the days of Hillel II, circa 320 to 330 CE. Geometric mosaics and and figurative elements of the mosaics inform the date range. Because of the uncertainty of paleography in Palestinian synagogues, and because at this synagogue the inscriptions seem to have been executed by craftsmen unfamiliar with the Hebrew alphabet, the script itself cannot provide chronological information. Dimensions refer to the entire central panel of the synagogue floor, roughly a square. It encloses two concentric circles, with diameters of 3.2 m and 1.4 m. The smaller circle encloses a representation of Helios driving the solar chariot; the area between the circles is split into twelve voussoir-shaped panels containing labelled representations of the Zodiac signs, each about 55 cm in length; and each corner of the square contains one labelled representation of the season that corresponds to its three tangent Zodiac signs, personified by a woman. All figures are oriented with their top ends, where their labels appear, towards the center of the circles. A twisted ribbon delineates both circles and each panel. Walls of the Stratum I synagogue, built over this mosaic, obscure all of Sagittarius, nearly all of Cancer, and some of Gemini and Scorpio. The sign of Aries is a galloping ram; that of Taurus is a galloping, humped bull with horns shown frontally; that of Gemini is a pair of naked twins, apparently uncircumcised and holding hands, of which only one is still visible; of the sign of Cancer, only the tip of a crab's leg is preserved. Leo is represented by a ferocious lion rearing up on his hind legs; Virgo by a standing virgin with a torch in her left hand, wearing a pallium, or white veil, a red tunic with black stripes, and red footwear; Libra by a muscular, uncircumcised man clad only in a chlamys, holding a royal scepter; Scorpio by a scorpion of which only the tail and the middle of the body, with two left legs and four right, survive. Nothing is visible of the archer that would presumably represent Sagittarius. Capricorn is represented by a monster with erect horns in leaping position; Aquarius by an athletic young male pouring water from a spouted jug held over his left shoulder, supported at top with his right hand and at bottom with his left; and Pisces by a pair of fishes swimming in opposite directions, one above the other. The word דלי, Aquarius, is written in mirror writing, perhaps indicative of workmen unfamiliar with the language and characters. The use of Hebrew is notable, since by this period it had been superceded by Aramaic and Greek in everyday business of the synagogue.