Archaeological dig in Galilee uncovers mosaics of Samson and commemorative inscriptions

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A team of specialists and students led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Jodi Magness has uncovered a spectacular mosaic panel in the late Roman synagogue at Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village in Israel's Lower Galilee. The panel, which identifies the mosaic donors or artists, decorates the floor just inside the main entrance.

Archaeologists have discovered that in the early 14th century CE, the synagogue was rebuilt and expanded in size. This development apparently occurred in the wake of the establishment of a new international highway connecting Cairo and Damascus that ran alongside Yakuk, Huqoq's medieval name, and the rise of a tradition that the Tomb of Habakkuk was nearby, which became a focal point of late medieval Jewish pilgrimage.