c. 2014 Religion News Service
JERUSALEM (RNS) An ancient synagogue mosaic depicting nonbiblical themes—including elephants—has been removed for safekeeping, according to the lead archaeologist who discovered the three-part floor panel earlier this summer.
Jodi Magness, director of the excavations in the ancient Jewish village of Huqoq in the Lower Galilee, said the high-quality, 1,600-year-old mosaic panel, which depicts an array of nonbiblical themes, “has been removed for conservation” until the synagogue is fully excavated in several years’ time.
