Alyssa Cady
Art and Identity in Late Antique Synagogues
Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 PM
October 17, 24, 31, November 7, 14, 21.
OFFERED IN-PERSON
The magnificent mosaic floor of the 4th-century Hammam Tiberias synagogue includes traditional Jewish symbols like menorahs, shofars and palm fronds. But its center panel is built around a pagan zodiac, with depictions of naked humans — including a conspicuously uncircumcised Libra. The elaborate mosaics of the nearby Huqoq synagogue are equally mystifying to modern eyes: Alongside biblical scenes of Samson, Noah’s Ark and Moses’s parting of the Red Sea, they incorporate Hellenistic images such as cupids and theatre masks. Neither synagogue is unique in going against the grain of modern expectations. This course will explore what such synagogue iconography tells us about the lives and cultures of the Jews of the Mediterranean in Late Antiquity — and the growing power of the rabbinate to control that imagery.