Jim Haberman
Archeologists recently announced the discovery of previously unseen mosaics on the floor of an ancient synagogue in Huqoq, Israel. The discovery is important, not only because the mosaics themselves are so striking, but also because they contain the earliest known images of biblical heroines Deborah and Jael in ancient Jewish art. These women appear in the biblical book of Judges, where they play pivotal roles in the military success of Israel. Recent biblical scholarship suggests that these women have been wildly misunderstood.
The excavations into the late fourth-early fifth century synagogue, which are in their tenth season, have been progressively uncovering the remarkable mosaic that adorned the floor of the structure. This season’s excavations focused on the southwest portion of the building. The archeologists, led by Jodi Magness the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, have previously discovered mosaics showing Samson, Alexander the Great, Jonah and the large fish, the parting of the Red Sea, the construction of the Tower of Babel, Noah’s Ark, and a Zodiac cycle.
The newly discovered floor mosaic shows an episode from Judges 4, in which the Israelite forces are led to (eventual) victory over the Canaanite army by Deborah, a prophetess and one of the Judges for which the book is named, and Barak, an Israelite military commander. According to the story, Deborah summons Barak and tells him that God plans for him to meet the Canaanite’s in battle. Barak accepts God’s call, put only on the condition that Deborah accompany him. Deborah agrees, but prophesies that it will be a woman, and not Barak, who will defeat the Canaanite general Sisera. After the battle, the Canaanite general Sisera sought refuge in the tent of Jael (or Yael), a Kenite woman who was married but whose husband is absent from the story. Barak did not find it: after inviting him into her tent, Jael killed him by hammering a tent peg through his temple as he slept.