Image Details

Zev Radovan

Synagogue mosaics depict ritual objects— including the lulav and etrog. From the Hammath Tiberias synagogue, located on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and dated to the fourth century A.D., a detail (shown here, compare with photo of panel from Beth Alpha) from the nave’s southern end shows the Torah ark in which the scrolls of the Torah were kept, right, and a menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum. A lulav, with an etrog hanging from its right side, appears to the left of the menorah. Also pictured, between the menorah and the Torah ark, are an incense shovel, above, and a shofar, below, an animal horn used as a trumpet on Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).