GO Friday, September 21, 1919
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Hebrew University Dig Unearths Unique Mosaic Floor
SID NEUMAN
AND HIS STAFF AT
.STAR
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WISH THEIR
FRIENDS & CUSTOMERS
A HAPPY & HEALTHY
NEW YEAR
JERUSALEM — A
unique mosaic synagogue
floor was uncovered this
summer by a Hebrew Uni-
versity Institute of Archeol-
ogy team, digging for the
first time at Um el Amed
(Hurvat Ha-Amudin: Ruin
of the Pillars) in the eastern
Lower Galilee.
The synagogue is dated to
the late Third Century C.E.
Dig director Dr. Lee
Levine says the six-color,
geometrically designed
mosaic floor is unusual for a
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Ash.
Galilean-type synagogue.
Until now, this kind of
synagogue was typfied by
benches lining ghe walls, an
elaborate facade, a doorway
facing Jerusalem, carved
stone ornamentation and a
floor of stone slabs. Galilean
synagogues have been
found at Capernaum,
Khorazim, Meron, Baram
and other sites.
The Urn el Amed
synagogue fits the pic-
ture of a Galilean
synagogue. There, the
archeologists were sur-
prised to find a mosaic
floor belonging to the
original structure.
Another surprise was the
uncovering of many frescoes
on the synagogue walls. Fhe
frescoes are colorful and
show geometrical patterns.
Stone carvings decorate the
synagogue — including a
lintel decorated with lions
and many carved pillars
scattered around.
The recent dig was the
first stage in a large-scale
new project being embarked
on by the Institute of Arche-
ology: a corpus of ancient
synagogues, to bring to-
gether all the existing
knowledge and augment it
by excavating sites prev-
iously not studied.
The lavish construction
at Urn el Amed casts doubt
on another old assumption:
that no elaborate Jewish
buildings were erected dur-
ing the Third Century CE
466. AI. 4111. . 4216
SID "HUDOSH" HUDSON
OF LAS VEGAS
Wishes All His
Friends
A Very floppy
and Healthy
New Year
because of hard economic
times and persecution.
The Urn el Amed
synagogue has been
dated to the latter part of
the Third Century, on the
basis of Roman coins
from the years 268-282
found beneath the floor.
Synagogues built in that
period are known in
Meron and Hurvat
Shema, and the new finds
fit in well with that in-
formiition.
One of the medallion pat-
terns in the Urn el Amed
synagogue floor contained
within it a six-line Hebrew
inscription. One word that
has been deciphered is "ta-
bla" — a word that appears
in two synagogues in the
region.
Part of the mosaic floor
still remains to be exca-
vated. Next summer, exca-
vations will continue at Um
el Amed and in the future at
Arbel, just west of Tiberias.
Heading the overall
synagogue project along
with Dr. Levine are Dr. Gi-
deon Foerster and Dr. Ehud
Netzer.
The Urn el Amed ar-
cheological team was as-
sisted by Dr. Netzer and
Yizhar Hirschfeld. A
group of teenagers tak-
ing part in the education
ministry's summer sci-
ence camp for youth
worked at the dig, living
C=
Pictured above is a mosaic floor of a Third Cen-
tury Galilee synagogue, unearthed by Hebrew Uni-
versity archeologists at Um el Amed.
* * *
in nearby Sejera and
enjoying tours and lec-
tures by the Hebrew Uni-
versity archeologists.
The summer science
camp program, headed by
Michael Cohen, shared the
cost of the dig with the uni-
versity's institute of arche-
ology.
Sen. Church to Address
Regional UJA Sessions
CLEVELAND — Sen.
Frank Church, chairman of
the Senate Foreign Rela-
tions Committee, will be
among the featured speak-
ers at the United Jewish
Appeal East Central Lead-
ership Conference, Oct.
19-21, at the Marriott East
Hotel in Beachwood, Ohio.
Other participants will
include Leon Dulzin,
chairman of the World
Zionist Organization and
Jewish Agency Executive;
Irwin S. Field, UJA na-
tional chairman; Rabbi Ar-
thur Lelyveld, president-
elect of the Synagogue
Council of America; Dr.
Aryeh Nesher, Director of
UJA's Operation Break-
through; Albert B. Ratner,
president of the Jewish
Community Federation of
Cleveland and Ambassador
Dov Sinai, executive vice
president of the Israel Edu-
cation Fund and national
coordinator for Project Re-
newal.
A discussion of the
Middle Eastern situation
will be led by Dr. Alan
Dowty, professor of gov-
ernment and interna-
tional studies of the Uni-
versity of Notre Dame,
and Dr. Seymour Martin
Lipset, professor of polit-
ical science and sociol-
ogy at Stanford Univer-
sity.
There will also be an oneg
Shabat, a special Women's
Division session and a wide
variety of workshops on ad-
vanced solicitation train-
ing, Project Renewal, cam-
paign management, Soviet
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Jewish emigration and the
cost of peace.
Joel Tauber of Detroit is
chairman of the East Cen-
tral Regional Cabinet;
Marilyn M. Bedol and Shel-
don S. Mann are Cleveland
co-chairmen of the confer-
ence.
Ohm Are Up,
Noshrim Down
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Some 3,900 new immig-
rants arrived in Israel in
August, marking a drama-
tic 72.5 percent increase
over the number of olim who
arrived in August 1978.
At the same time, the
number of Soviet Jewish
dropouts for August de-
clined by two percent corn-
pared to July, from 70 eto
67.7 percent.
These figures were pre-
sented to the World Zionist
Organization Executive
meeting last week, by aliya
department chairman
Raphael Kotlowitz.
ORT has 3,000 teachers
in Israel.
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