Rare biblical mosaics uncovered in ancient Galilee synagogue

Unusual mosaics depicting biblical scenes—one of Noah’s ark, the other of the parting of the Red Sea—were uncovered this summer by archaeologists excavating a fifth-century synagogue at Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village near the Sea of Galilee.

A consortium of universities, led by Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, uncovered the mosaics during its fifth annual excavation in June.

Magness said the mosaics, like others discovered at the synagogue since 2012, are of “extremely high artistic quality.”