The middle register is only fractionally preserved, while the lowest register shows Sisera bleeding and dead as he lay on the ground.ĭeborah is one of only five women described as a prophet in the Old Testament and is the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Part of the mosaic unearthed at Huqoq depicts Barak equipped with a shield and Deborah gazing at him from under a palm tree. The dig - led by project director Magness and assistant director Dennis Mizzi of the University of Malta - unearthed a large mosaic panel depicting the events of Chapter four of Judges, where the prophetess and judge Deborah and military commander Barak lead the Israelites in victory over the Canaanites, led by the general Sisera.Īccording to the Bible, Sisera fled to the tent of Jael, a Kenite woman, who ended up slaying the general by driving a tent peg through his temple while he slept. The synagogue’s floor is decorated with a large mosaic panel that is divided into three horizontal strips, or registers, each telling a story from the book of Judges, according to Magness. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Jodi Magness led a team of students and specialists to Israel’s Lower Galilee region, where a decadelong effort has been underway, unearthing nearly 1,600-year-old mosaics in an ancient Jewish synagogue at Huqoq.įollowing a pause due the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, the Huqoq Excavation Project focused its 10th season on the southwest part of the synagogue, which researchers believe was built in the late fourth to early fifth century C.E. | Courtesy of Jim HabermanĪn excavation team in Israel has discovered the first known depiction of two biblical heroines from the Old Testament.

Israelite commander Barak depicted in the Huqoq synagogue mosaic.

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