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mosaics, such as the Dionysiac at Gerasa (Z’ubi
et al. 1994).
Piccirillo (1993: 23-26) contends that mythological
episodes found during Early Byzantine period
can be explained by the Classical Renaissance
under Justinian. But Merrony (1998: 460-465)
maintains that ‘there is good reason to suppose
that a deeper symbolic meaning underlines these
scenes’. Weiss and Talgam (2002: 73-83) maintain
that the mythological episodes depicted in secular
Early Byzantine art were apparently decorative
and devoid of religious significance.
The Year, the Calendar, the Zodiac, the Labours of
the Months, and the Seasons
Time, the year, and the calendar are represented
differently in synagogues and churches.
The zodiac design, consisting of three parts for
personification of the seasons, the zodiac signs,
and the sun god, is characteristic of synagogues,
whereas church pavements are illustrated with
the personifications of the twelve months and
the four seasons in separate designs and different
compositions.
A central feature of the synagogue pavement
design was the zodiac panel, occurring in seven
synagogues found to date. These are Beth "Alpha,
Hammath- Tiberias, Huseifa, Na#aran, Susiya
(with only few remains of a the zodiac scheme),
Sepphoris and ‘En Gedi. Their dates range from
the 4th to the 7th century (see Chap. III). Their
design, form and composition are identical, except
for the En Gedi inscription and Sepphoris, which
show some unique features described below (pls.
III.2-4; figs. III-3-4). The composition is uniform,
consisting of a square frame containing two concentric
circles. In the corners the four seasons
are personified as female busts, accompanied by
Hebrew inscriptions naming of the first month
of each season. The outer circle, divided into
twelve units, depicts the signs of the zodiac, each
accompanied by its Hebrew name; these divisions
conform identically to the twelve months
of the Jewish year. At the ‘En Gedi inscription
the Hebrew names of the zodiac signs are followed
by a precise list of the Hebrew names of
the twelve Jewish months (Hachlili 1977, 2001).
At Sepphoris the seasons are also accompanied
by their Greek names. The Sepphoris mosaic has
some other unique additions (Weiss 2005: 104-
141). On all the mosaics the inner circle shows
the figure of the sun god in a four-horse chariot,
chapter eleven
but at Sepphoris only the sunrays are depicted
in the chariot; a star or stars and crescent moon
are rendered in the background. On each of the
synagogue zodiacs the human figures personified
as naked or draped signs have the same features
of face and body, and similar garments and hair.
The signs of Gemini, Virgin, Libra, Sagittarius,
and Aquarius in all the zodiac renditions are figures
in an active posture.
These identical schemes of the zodiac in the
synagogues apparently functioned as an annual
calendar consisting of the four seasons, the signs
of the zodiac represented the months, and day
and night were symbolized by the sun and the
moon. This is further attested by the inscription
on the ‘En Gedi synagogue pavement. Clearly,
the zodiac cycle served the Jewish communities
as a symbolic calendar, the framework for the
annual ritual in the synagogue.
The disparity between the synagogue and
church presentation of the year and the calendar
is quite remarkable. On church and mansion
pavements different compositions illustrate the
months and the seasons (pls. VIII. 2-4). Whereas
the sun god appears within the inner circle of the
zodiac in the synagogues, there is only a single
personification of Sun and Moon on the inner
circle at the Beth She"an monastery (pl. VIII.4b).
On a few Christian mosaics the personifications of
the twelve months accompanied by their names,
as at the Beth She"an monastery and in an independent
design in El-Hammam funerary chapel
at Beth She"an (pls. VIII.3,4), represented the calendar,
as described next. On synagogue mosaics
the calendar was illustrated by all three parts of
the zodiac, where the months were represented
by the signs of the zodiac. The personifications
of the four seasons were depicted on their own in
separate designs on pagan and church mosaics,
while the busts of the seasons in the synagogues
were part of the integral zodiac scheme.
Personification of Months
Personifications of the months, which appear
only on church mosaics, have different designs
on two 6th-century Christian pavements at Beth
She"an: in the narthex of the funerary chapel at
El Hamman and at the centre of the mosaic in
hall A of the Monastery of Lady Mary (pls. VIII.
3,4; fig. VIII-8) (Fitzgerald 1939: 6, pls. VI-VIII;
Avi-Yonah 1936: 22-26, pl. XV). The two Christian
examples differ in their basic form but are