Exquisite animal mosaics found in Judean Byzantine remains

Mosaic floor of a 1500-year-old Byzantine Church in Hirbet Madras, Israel.
Image courtesy of the Associated Press.

Just in from the AP:

"Israeli archaeologists presented a newly uncovered 1,500-year-old church in the Judean hills on Wednesday, including an unusually well-preserved mosaic floor with images of lions, foxes, fish and peacocks.

The Byzantine church located southwest of Jerusalem, excavated over the last two months, will be visible only for another week before archaeologists cover it again with soil for its own protection.

The small basilica with an exquisitely decorated floor was active between the fifth and seventh centuries A.D., said the dig's leader, Amir Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority." - Associated Press

The article includes more images including some closeups that are well worth examining.

I also found an interesting web page about Judea under Byzantine rule.  An excerpt:

"It was official Christian policy to convert Jews to Christianity, and the Christian leadership used the official power of Rome in their attempts. In 351 CE the Jews revolted against the added pressures of a bad ruler named Gallus. Gallus put down the revolt and destroyed all of the major cities in the Galilee where the revolt had started. Tzippori and Lydda (site of two of the major legal academies) never recovered..."

"...The Jews of Judea received a brief respite in 363 CE when Julian the Apostate became Emperor of the Eastern Kingdom. He tried to return the kingdom to Hellenism and encouraged the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem. The Jews were ecstatic, but their joy was short-lived; Julian was assassinated, and Christian emperors took over, never to lose control again."

Image via Wikipedia

Coin with portrait of Theodosius I

In the beginning of the fifth century, Emperor Theodosius ruled that because the Jews were the perfidious group that had rejected Jesus, they were to be persecuted. Jews couldn't own slaves (making agriculture difficult). They couldn't build new synagogues. They couldn't hold public office. The Jewish courts couldn't try cases between a Jew and a non-Jew. Intermarriage between Jew and non-Jew was a capital offense as was a Christian converting to Judaism. In addition, Theodosius did away with the Sanhedrin and abolished the post of "Nasi." The Jews received extra tax burdens as well.

Image by mharrsch via Flickr

Ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire

"...Justinian added some details to the list in two Edicts. Regulation 37 prohibited Jews from occupying North Africa. The most outrageous edict, however, was Regulation 146, created in 553 CE. Jews were forbidden to read the torah or any other book in Hebrew. Only the Greek version (the Septuagint) could be used. The "Shma" was forbidden. Studying of the Mishnah was forbidden. Justinian encouraged Christians to destroy synagogues, stores, and Jewish houses." - Judea Under Byzantine Rule, The Jewish Virtual Library

Related articles

• Byzantium and Its Sphere (socyberty.com)

        

Team continues excavation of Visigothic remains at Marina Alta

"This summer dozens of students from all over Europe visited the Marina Alta town to toil in the sunshine as volunteer labour for the residential experts. Work took place on the slopes of the famous Penon de Ifach landmark -where remains of a 4th Century church has been discovered along with artefacts of a community dating back to 700 BC - and surrounding site of the Queen's Baths. However, it is the 5th Century church alongside the Roman baths and built over part of an extensive villa that has excited archaeologists. Ana Ronda, who is in charge of the dig, told Round Town News the church was constructed during the Visigoth Empire's spread into Iberia - after the once barbarian hordes converted to Roman Catholicism -and it was first identified in 2004.

"We have been very surprised at the sheer scale of the church and have yet to find the altar," she said. "However, we have uncovered the pool - the 'baptismo' - where people were baptised through total immersion. We are still trying to discover just how large the building is and so work continues." The dig has already identified 25 tombs, the graves unearthed inside and outside the walls of the church. Ana said skeletons were found in 23 of the graves. Discoveries from the project are taken to Alicante and housed in the MARQ archaeological museum. The Queen's Baths and Roman fish pools at Calpe were identified a number of years ago, along with a factory producing terracotta pottery. However, the huge villa alongside the baths and a Roman street and houses leading away towards the modern town are more recent finds."