Ein Gedi’s Archaeological Riches

In tracing the history of this site as revealed by archaeology, the author briefly describes a synagogue (4th-7th c.) decorated with two mosaics of contrasting dates. The earlier pavement of black and white type displays a large swastika on a white ground framed by a border of triangles. The later floor, illustrated in color, has an elegant design of a large poised square shown upon a grid made of pink quatrefoils. This square contains two other smaller squares turned at an angle to each other: one of them features black and red checkerboard in its corners.The other encloses a circle with a few scattered birds and has vine scrolls and partial canopies posted in the corners, outside the circle. Pairs of confronted peacocks pecking at a bunch of grapes occur in the angles of the outermost square. The whole arrangement is light, airy, and finely balanced.