Ancient frescoes also found in two discoveries that undermine claims of devastation following Jews' Great Revolt against Romans.
Two archaeological discoveries made in the Galilee over the summer tell a story that differs from the standard description of the devastation in the country following the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans.
Excavations by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at Zippori have revealed frescoes with human and animal images from about 1,800 years ago – a rare find for that time in the land of Israel.
And in Nahal Tabor in the Eastern Galilee an archaeological expedition from Kinneret College has uncovered a Second Temple-era synagogue predating the destruction of the Temple – the first to be discovered in a rural rather than an urban setting.In 67 C.E. the leaders of the Jewish town of Zippori made a dramatic decision not to join the revolt against Rome. It saved the city and earned it the affection of Rome, which granted it the status of polis. Thus, while Jerusalem lay in ruins, Zippori flourished with colonnaded streets and monumental structures, where a mixed population of Jews and pagans lived.
One of the largest public structures from this period was uncovered in this summer’s excavation, led by Prof. Zeev Weiss, who has been digging the site for 26 years. Hundreds of fragments of colored frescoes were found among the remains of the structure, which was destroyed in the 3rd century C.E., including a lion’s head, a horned animal (apparently a bull), a bird and half a leopard. One fragment reveals a human figure holding a club. Only one other site, Herod’s palace at Herodium, has yielded similar images predating the ones found at Zippori. Such finds are rare during this period because Jews typically did not produce figurative art to avoid breaking the second commandment prohibiting graven images.
“I don’t know if Jews built it, but we have no indication that the [Jewish] population was replaced. There are ritual baths and stone vessels indicating the presence of a Jewish community alongside a pagan one,” Weiss said. “You can see the multiculturalism. Apparently the inhabitants internalized the idea that one can live with the Roman world quietly and there is nothing bad about bathhouses and colonnaded streets,” he added.
Source: Haaretz
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