In the ancient Jewish village of Huqoq, located in the Lower Galilee, a set of mosaics that allegedly depict Alexander the Great meeting with a Jewish priest have been unearthed during an excavation of the remains of a synagogue that dates back to the 5th century. If the mosaic has been identified correctly, the discovery will apparently be the first ever depiction of a non-Biblical scene to be found inside a synagogue, the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

. . . One of the clues that the top mosaic strip portrays Alexander the Great is because the scene includes an elephant. “Battle elephants were associated with Greek armies beginning with Alexander the Great, so this might be a depiction of a Jewish legend about the meeting between Alexander and the Jewish high priest,” Professor Magness said.

Magness added that the mosaic artists probably never saw an elephant in the flesh because, in the mosaic, “they look like cartoons.”

Read the article “Mosaic Found in Ancient Synagogue May Show Alexander the Great (and His Elephants)” on tabletmag.com.