Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

July 3, 2019

A Newly Discovered Mosaic Displays an Obscure Biblical Scene

The palm trees of Elim and beasts of Daniel at Huqoq.

The book of Exodus, describing the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness after crossing the Red Sea, states: “And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and 70 palm trees: and they encamped there by the water.” Recently archaeologists have discovered a depiction of this scene in the elaborate mosaics of the 5th-century-CE Huqoq synagogue. Jodi Magness, who since 2011 has been leading the excavation of this Galilean synagogue, explains in an interview:

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