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the four seasons, representing the year. According
to the Jewish calendar the twelve months correspond
exactly to the stations of the zodiac. The
earliest listing of all the Jewish calendar months
in succession (whose names are Babylonian in
origin) appears in Megillath Ta‘anith (probably 1st-
2nd century CE); the Roman Julian calendar does
not correspond exactly to the zodiac (Johnson
1968: 19; Schürer et al. 1973, I: 587; Herr 1976:
837-839). Jewish tradition has many references
to the zodiac signs as monthly representations.
Explicit evidence of this correlation and additional
support for this interpretation are provided
by the Sepphoris synagogue mosaic, which displays
the names of the months in addition to the
names of the zodiac signs. Further endorsement is
the late 6th-century ‘En Gedi synagogue mosaic
inscription (pl. III.4c), which contains the names
of the zodiac signs, followed by their corresponding
months (Mazar 1970; Barag et al 1981). The
tradition is preserved in later literature, such as
in Ha-Kalir’s poems, where the names of months
are parallel to the zodiac signs (Avi-Yonah 1964:
55; Mirsky 1971). The ‘En Gedi inscription also
proves that even in the late 6th century the Jewish
year started with Nisan (and its zodiac sign Taleh),
the first month of the spring. The zodiac depiction
at Beth "Alpha indicates as much by adding
the letter vav (‘and’) to both Deli (Aquarius) and
Dagim (Pisces), thereby designating them the last
signs of the zodiac; this in fact attests that the next
zodiac sign, Taleh (Aries) for the month of Nisan,
is the beginning of the year. The ‘En Gedi written
inscription must have replaced the illustrated
zodiac mosaic during this later period; the images
of the Na#aran floor might have been damaged
at this same time.
In the Roman world zodiac signs are of cosmic
and astronomical significance, whereas in Christian
art, as in Roman, the calendar is sometimes
represented by the Labours of the Months. Jewish
art used the same form of the radial design and
outer spandrels, rendered the same three components
of the zodiac circle, and transformed it into
a Jewish calendar by marking the signs and the
seasons with their Hebrew names. At Sepphoris
the Hebrew names of the months were added, and
at Beth "Alpha the signs were given some unique
interpretations. Jewish art preferred an abstract
5 The 2nd-3rd century mosaic floor at Hellin in Spain
(see note 3) is an example of a calendar mosaic which is
the zodiac panel and its significance 55
and symbolic zodiac, rather than the naturalistic
representation of human activity depicted on the
Roman or Christian examples, to safeguard the
religious nature of the calendar.
The Jewish community adapted the Roman
calendar, a pagan subject, which contained either
the zodiac signs or the Labours of the Months, and
modified it according to their needs, to convey the
Jewish image of an annual calendar. 3
The radial composition evidently conveys a
visual, figured calendar by placing a circle of
zodiac signs, representing the months, around
the central figure of the sun god accompanied
by the moon and stars, embodying day and night,
and allocated the seasons in the four corners of
the panel; the whole scheme conveys and illustrates
the year.
In conclusion, in these synagogue pavements
the Jewish zodiac-calendar, the form, composition,
and balance of the three-part scheme are
identical, suggesting the existence of a prototype
for the general design. The Jewish zodiac-calendar
is unique, however, in its balanced and harmonious
conflation of the three parts. The basic
design of the Jewish calendar is probably drawn
from the Antioch school. The likeness to Roman
mosaic calendars rendered with the Labours of
the Months is perceived in the circular form and
in the addition of inscribed names of months
and seasons (see Antioch, Carthage, and the
Beth She"an monastery mosaics), whereas names
are lacking in circular zodiac representations at
Astypalaea, Münster, and Sparta. The design has
its roots in the art of the preceding period with
the two major schemes, which are part of the
Jewish calendar: the astronomical zodiac and the
agricultural calendar. The Jewish model unified
these two into the distinctive design of the seasons,
zodiac signs, and sun god, signifying a liturgical
calendar. When the synagogue replaced the
Temple, the annual ritual acts, performed previously
by the priests, came to be represented symbolically
in synagogue art. The calendar became
the frame of the annual rites, now enacted by the
community. Thus, it was guaranteed a central
location in synagogue mosaic floors.
The zodiac panel design, which occurs on these
synagogue mosaic pavements widely separated in
space and time, was apparently chosen from a
conceptually close to the idea of the Jewish mosaic calendar,
adapted by the Jews for their special purposes.