Mosaic Floor, Beth Alpha

The mosaic panels at Beth Alpha, in northeastern Israel, are surrounded by a border decorated with geometric, vegetal, and floral patterns. Below the binding of Isaac scene are Aramaic and Greek dedicatory inscriptions with a lion and a bull on the sides. The Greek inscription names the artisans who laid the mosaic—Marianos and his son Ḥanina, who also worked on the Beth Shean mosaics—and the Aramaic specifies the date of construction of the building, during the reign of Emperor Justinus (518–527 CE). The style of the mosaic is unique among ancient synagogue art. Some scholars have described it as amateurish or naïve, but according to a recent interpretation, the style may be a deliberate means of evoking the presence of the sacred.