Ancient Mosaics and Architectural Decorations

Ancient Jewish art was a blend of Near Eastern and Greco-Roman influences and fused with Jewish motifs and conventions. Throughout the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods, Jews expressed themselves in roughly the same architectural and artistic metaphors as their neighbors. This is evident in the various Jewish buildings and tombs that have been excavated throughout the land of Israel and the Mediterranean diaspora, including Hasmonean and Herodian palaces, elite houses and monumental tombs in Jerusalem, several hundred ossuaries from burial caves in Judaea, hypogea (underground tombs or catacombs) in Rome, and the many late Roman/early Byzantine synagogues.

Representations of the menorah were sporadic in the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods but became common from the mid-third and fourth centuries CE on. The evolution of the menorah as the primary, defining Jewish symbol coincided with (and cannot be divorced from) the proliferation of the cross as a Christian symbol.

A notorious issue in Jewish art is the representation of figural art. The biblical injunction against images (Exodus 20:4–6; Deuteronomy 4:16–18) was originally understood to refer to cultic idols, and there is no indication of an outright rejection of figurative designs in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. However, there is a radical shift in the late Hellenistic period, when an aversion to such depictions emerges. The strong aversion was shared by large segments of the population. For instance, elite houses and palaces in the Hasmonean and Herodian periods are remarkable for the absence of figurative art—their frescoes and mosaics are characterized by polychrome decorations as well as floral and geometric patterns. Locally minted coins followed the same aniconic trend.

Of course, there were exceptions. Josephus describes the animal imagery decorating the palace of Herod Antipas in Tiberias (Life of Josephus 65). Some Herodian coins carried portraits of Roman emperors or members of the Herodian family, although most of the coins were intended for circulation among gentiles. Animal motifs are also attested in a burial cave in Jericho and on stone tables in some of the aristocratic houses in Jerusalem. But these are rare exceptions that prove the general rule. Even so, it appears that most Jews, including the Temple authorities, had no qualms about using foreign coins with images. The preferred currency for the annual Temple tax, for instance, was the Tyrian shekel, which had a high silver content and featured a portrait of the god Melkart (Herakles) on one side and an eagle standing on a ship’s prow on the other. Interestingly, some of these shekels were defaced during the First Revolt.

In the late Roman and Byzantine periods, we see a radical shift in Jewish attitudes toward art. Various excavated synagogues reveal that many Jews embraced the representation of human and animal figures. The synagogue at Dura-Europos (late second–third century CE) represents the earliest attestation of figural art in a synagogue context. In the land of Israel, some late Roman and Byzantine synagogues preserve intricately decorated mosaic floors depicting biblical scenes and figures, objects, and motifs connected with the Temple cult; Jewish symbols such as the menorah, the shofar, and the eight-pointed star of kingship; as well as pagan themes, particularly Helios and the zodiac cycle. The latter have been the subject of much discussion with regard to their meaning and significance in Jewish synagogues. Whom does the figure of Helios represent? Answers include the God of Israel, an angelic heavenly being, or, together with the zodiac cycle, celestial phenomena.

The presence of pagan motifs does not signify acceptance of what those images stood for. Artistic metaphors could have been appropriated without the accompanying cultural baggage. At the same time, the employment of this artistic heritage encourages us to reflect on the nature of ancient Judaism in late Roman and Byzantine times, keeping in mind that not all synagogues had such artistic tendencies and that not all Jews would have approved of such art. Synagogue art, then, reveals the unremitting diversity in ancient Judaism and provides an important counternarrative to views preserved in other sources, in particular rabbinic literature.