Ancient Synagogues of the Middle East
Beth-Alpha Synagogue – Beit She’an, Israel
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Beth-Alpha Synagogue (also known as the Beth ‘Alpha Synagogue, the Bet Alfa Synagogue, or the Beit Alpha Synagogue) is located in the Beit She’an Valley of northeast Israel. It was built in the sixth century C.E. and serves as a very significant example of the use of figural iconography in temple ornamentation. The Synagogue’s biblical wall mosaics, along with its monumental floor mosaic of the wheel of the Zodiac, introduce important conversations about iconism in Jewish religious artwork, as well as evidencing a relationship between Jews and pagan communities in the Byzantine era.
FORMAL QUALITIES
The Beth-Alpha Synagogue, like many of its contemporaries, comprised a complex of buildings and spaces, including a courtyard, a vestibule (narthex), a main worship hall with a second-story balcony, and another room of unspecified use. As is common in synagogue architecture, the 20 x 14 meter structure is oriented southward towards Jerusalem. The 10 x 7 meter courtyard was entered from the street by an opening in its western wall and was paved by geometric mosaic designs. To enter the prayer hall, one went through the courtyard and the narrow narthex, also decorated with geometric mosaics. The prayer hall, entirely paved in mosaics on the floor and walls, measured 10 x 8 meters and was divided by two rows of stone pillars that formed a central nave and side aisles; like other Byzantine synagogues, this design mirrored church architecture. Although little of the ceiling is still extant, it is presumed that the pillars supported an arched ceiling and gabled roof over top. There was also most likely a second story atop the main worship space, making up the women’s gallery. The southern wall of the synagogue, facing Jerusalem, housed a 2.4-meter-deep apse, which served as the bimah. In later years, another bimah, in the shape of a bench, was built between the two southern pillars on the eastern side of the worship hall. The floor of the synagogue’s nave is divided into three panels enclosed by a decorative band with geometric, floral, and vegetal motifs. The two most important panels are the “Binding of Isaac” mosaic and the central panel, the wheel of the Zodiac.
Binding of Isaac Mosaic
This mosaic depicts Genesis 22:1-19, the biblical scene when G-d tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on a mountain. Abraham begins to comply with the sacrifice and binds his son to an altar, when he is interrupted by a messenger from G-d. He then sees a ram, which he sacrifices in place of his son. This is a very controversial biblical narrative, with many Jewish scholars arguing that neither G-d nor Abraham actually meant for the sacrifice to be completed, but rather to carry out the binding as a show of faith. The specific iconography of the mosaic from Beth-Alpha is controversial as well, with various sources assigning it different dates and iconographical models. Indeed, the style of the mosaic is not able to be found in any other contemporaneous synagogue, nor are specifics of the mosaic’s symbols. For example, scholars have argued over the placement of the ram, as some asserted that it is depicted as being caught in a thicket of branches or hanging from a tree, symbolizing Christ’s sacrifice. However, Joseph Gutmann (the author of “Revisiting the ‘Binding of Isaac’ Mosaic in the Beth-Alpha Synagogue”) states that the ram is actually tethered to the tree by a rope, a trope that was used by earlier fourth-century Coptic sources, indicating that the Beth-Alpha Synagogue’s iconography is not entirely unprecedented. The figure of Isaac in the Beth-Alpha Synagogue’s mosaic is indeed the most unusual, even more than the ram, given his appearance of floating in mid-air past his father’s fingertips. Gutmann proposes that, although Isaac’s appearance is not paralleled in other contemporaneous Jewish sources, his orientation is actually seen in Christian iconographic tradition, indicating a cross-religious stylistic influence. Indeed, many of the unusual motifs in the Beth-Alpha Synagogue’s mosaics are found in Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, North Africa, Spain, Italy, and Northern Europe from the fourth to the thirteenth centuries. This indicates that there must have been a sort of iconographic model that was printed and dispersed across various regions, despite a lack of physical archaeological evidence for such a publication.
Wheel of the Zodiac Mosaic
The central panel of the synagogue’s nave depicts the wheel of the 12 signs of the Zodiac. These signs, although condemned by Jewish prophets, were common motifs in Byzantine synagogues. Each sign in the wheel is accompanied by its Hebrew name and an iconographic symbol; the image in the wheel’s center depicts the sun god Helios in a chariot drawn by four horses. The four corners of the panel each have a symbol of a different season, all represented by busts of winged women wearing jewels, alongside its Hebrew name.
Reason for Inclusion
The synagogue was uncovered in 1928 by members of the Kibbutz Beit Alpha, who first discovered the mosaic floor of the nave. This was an incredibly significant architectural find because it represented the first proof that Judaism was not an entirely aniconic religion, as scholars previously believed. The Dura Europos Synagogue, discovered in 1932, was further evidence of the use of figural imagery in Jewish synagogue ornamentation. Furthermore, the synagogue’s mosaic ornamentation, both the “Binding of Isaac” mosaic and the Zodiac mosaic, proves the existence of cross-cultural and inter-religious styles of art in Jewish iconography.
SOURCES
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- “Archaeology in Israel: Beit Alpha.” Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Accessed April 30, 2022. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/beit-alpha.
- “Bet Alfa Synagogue National Park.” Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Accessed April 30, 2022. https://en.parks.org.il/reserve-park/bet-alpha-synagogue-national-park/.
- Gutmann, Joseph. “Revisiting the ‘Binding of Isaac’ Mosaic in the Beth-Alpha Synagogue.” Bulletin of the Asia Institute 6 (1992): 79-85.
- Hachlili, Rachel. “The Zodiac in Ancient Jewish Synagogal Art: A Review.” Jewish Studies Quarterly 9, no. 3 (2002): 219-258.