Samson.

Archeologists uncover mosaic depicting biblical Samson at ancient Israeli synagogue.

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter. 

A depiction of a dead Philistine soldier within a large mosaic of Samson carrying the gate of Gaza rests inside an ancient synagogue in the Israeli village of Huqoq. The mosiac was uncovered during an archeological dig led by Prof. Jodi Magness from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. | Jim Haberman

A mosaic panel depicting biblical stories uncovered at an ancient synagogue was discovered by archeologists seeking answers about the impact of early Christian rule on Jewish people.

Jodi Magness, an archaeologist and professor of early Judaism at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, has been excavating the synagogue in the ancient Jewish village of Huqoq since 2011. The village is located in Israel's Lower Galilee. 

Magness and her team discovered the first set of mosaics in 2012 after their excavation progressed to the floor of the building. 

The mosaic panels on the synagogue floor depict biblical stories, including Samson and the foxes from Judges 15:4 and Samson carrying the gates of Gaza as in Judges 16:3. This summer, additional sections of those mosaic panels were exposed.  

A newly discovered mosaic on the floor just inside the main entrance consists of a large panel with a Hebrew inscription contained inside a wreath. An Aramaic inscription lists the names of what appear to be the donors who funded the mosaic or the artists who created them. Other panels depict a tiger hunting an ibex, while another features a Philistine horseman and a dead Philistine soldier.