Home : Complete Site List : Search : What's New? : Permission to Use : Contact Us

Synagogue Zodiac 1

< Prev | 7 of 14 | Next >
Synagogue Zodiac 1
Click Photo for Larger Version
Please read before you download

Images and/or text from holylandphotos.org are NOT TO BE USED ON OTHER WEB SITES, NOR COMMERCIALLY, without special permission. To request permission contact us at holylandphotos@gmail.com.

Photo Comments

View looking south over the main floor of the synagogue.  In the center of the image is a circular Zodiac with the sun god Helios in the center.  The Zodiac is placed within a square frame. 

Within the circle, beginning in the lower left and proceeding in a counter-clockwise direction, are a lion (Leo, Aryeh, אריה), a virgin (Virgo, Betulah, בתולה), scales (Libra, Meoznayim, מוזנים ), a scorpion (Scorpio, Aqrab) [missing archer, (Sagittarius, Kashat)], a goat (Capricornus, Gedi, גדי), a water carrier (Aquarius, Deli, ילד, spelled backwards!), two fish (Pisces, Dagim, דגים), a ram (Aries, Taleh, טלה), a bull (Taurus, Shor, שור), twins (partially preserved, Gemini, Teomin) and {missing a crab (Cancer, Sartan).  The blank horizontal strip crossing the center of the zodiac, which is outlined by two lines, is where the wall of a later building destroyed that portion of the mosaic.

At the corners are females representing the seasons of the year.  Proceeding from the lower left in a counter-clockwise direction are "Season Summer" (tequfat tamuz), "Season Autumn" (tequfat Tishri) followed by Winter (Tebeth), and Spring (Nisan).

Several bands of various colors and a guilloche form the border of this portion of the mosaic "carpet."

This synagogue dates to the 4th-5th centuries.