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particularly in their arms and bases. The menorah
on the left has a base and arms decorated
with globular balls, whereas the right one has
base and arms decorated with simple lines. Both
have a crossbar holding glasses as light fittings.
The menoroth seem to be flanked by only two
ritual objects, the shofar and lulav. A pair of stags
and plants flank the Torah shrine and menoroth
panel; the mosaic shows repairs following accidental
or intentional damage.
A different design, but still similar, appears
on the mosaic pavement of the Beth She"an A
synagogue (Zori 1967: 152, pl. 29,5), showing a
structure with a double façade. The outer façade,
closer to the viewer, consists of two columns with
stylized Ionic capitals, each resting on a pedestal
and supporting a gable. The inner façade has
two similar columns supporting an arch decorated
with a conch (pl. II-2b). A parochet is shown
hanging on a rod between the columns. No ark
is depicted, which is one reason for some scholars’
argument that this Beth She"an A synagogue
was a Samaritan building (Avi-Yonah 1973: 42;
Pummer 1999: 131-132). A veil covers the Torah
shrine and a pair of menoroth flank the ark, each
accompanied by only two ritual objects, a shofar
and an incense shovel.
Artistic Renditions of the Ark of the Scrolls
A different concept guided the artistic rendition of
the mosaic panels of the Beth "Alpha and Na#aran
synagogue floors: the design of the mosaic panel
in the Beth "Alpha synagogue shows the Ark of
the Scrolls as a chest with a carved and decorated
double door, standing on three legs (pl. II-2a,
fig. II-11a). The Torah shrine is indicated symbolically
by the conch depicted inside the ark’s
gable (for the symbolic representation of the
conch see Hachlili 1980). A lamp is suspended
from the centre of the ark’s gable and is part of
the repertoire of ritual items symbolizing its use
in the synagogue.
The ark is flanked by an unidentical pair of
menoroth with unusual tripod bases, round arms
decorated by a stylized form of the capital-andflower,
and glasses and flames on the crossbar.
The menoroth themselves are each flanked by the
four ritual utensils, with the addition of a pair of
lions, a pair of birds placed on the edges of the
two acroteria, and a pair of plants. A parochet is
portrayed at both ends of the panel, apparently
representing the veil that covered the area of the
Torah shrine and separated it from the synagogue
hall.
chapter two
The Na#aran mosaic panel depicted on the
main hall of the mosaic pavement of the synagogue
has a different design. It shows the partly
destroyed Ark of the Scrolls as a chest with double
doors standing on two legs with a gabled top decorated
with a conch (pl. II-2b, fig. II-10b). The ark
is flanked by a pair of menoroth of unique style
and decoration: the round arms are adorned by
alternating square patterns, and the central stem
is adorned with a series of round discs; notable are
the stepped bases of the menoroth and the glass
containers on a specially stylized ornate crossbar
(Hachlili 2001: 135, 161, fig. III-10d). Instead of
the usual accompanying ritual objects, two lamps
hang from each menorah.
A similar stylized ark is shown on the mosaic of
the Jericho synagogue (Baramki 1938: pl. 19). The
Ark of the Scrolls has a decorated double door
standing on four legs; above the ark appears the
conch, signifying the Torah shrine (pl. II-2c).
The Ark of the Scrolls representations in the
Land of Israel is shown either independently freestanding,
or inside the Torah shrine façade. The
form of the ark portrayed inside the façade of the
Torah shrine is usually a chest with closed doors
(fig. II-12); this depiction appears on the mosaic
pavements of Hammath Tiberias, Sepphoris,
and Susiya, and on reliefs from Peki‘in and Beth
She‘arim (Hachlili 1980: 59-60; 1988: 272-278;
280-285; 2000: 158, figs. 12: 1-7; 14: 2, 4, 5).
The form of the ark depicted independently is
a free-standing chest with a double ornamented
door, set on two to four legs, surmounted by a
gable or round top, sometimes with a symbolic
conch referring to the absent Torah shrine within
which the ark stood (fig. II-13); these arks are portrayed
on mosaic floors at Beth "Alpha, Jericho,
and Na#aran, and on reliefs from Capernaum and
Na‘ana (Hachlili 2000: 158, fig. 15). The Beth
She"an A mosaic portrays a parochet (veil), which
may indicate an ark (pl. II-2b) (Zori 1967: 152,
164). There is no proof of any preference for one
form over another as these ark forms are rendered
in all periods.
In the Diaspora the ark is carved or painted as
a free-standing open chest, roofed by a gabled or
round top, without legs; through the open doors
of the ark shelves are visible, on each of which are
set two to three circular, oval, or square scrolls
(fig. II-14). The ark appears painted on catacomb
walls, carved on tombstones and on gold glasses
found in the Jewish catacombs in Rome. It also
appears on lamps found in the synagogue at the
Roman port of Ostia. On a stone slab at Sardis, an