Mosaic of Rehob explained

Mosaic of Rehob
Alternate Name:Inscription of Tel Rehov
Map Type:Mandatory Palestine#Israel
Coordinates:32.4631°N 35.4936°W
Part Of:Synagogue
Area:4.3mx2.75mm (14.1feetx09.02feetm)
Built:[1]
Abandoned:7th century CE
Excavations:1973
Archaeologists:Yaakov Sussmann, Shaul Lieberman, Fanny Vitto
Condition:Good (although removed from locale)
Public Access:Yes, both to the museum and to the open field with scarce remains

The Mosaic of Reḥob (also known as the Tel Rehov inscription and the Baraita of the Boundaries), is a late 3rd–6th century CE mosaic discovered in 1973. The mosaic, written in late Mishnaic Hebrew, describes the geography and agricultural rules of the local Jews of the era. It was inlaid in the floor of the foyer or narthex of an ancient synagogue near Tel Rehov,[2] 4.5km (02.8miles) south of Beit She'an and about west of the Jordan River. The mosaic contains the longest written text yet discovered in any Hebrew mosaic in Israel, and also the oldest known Talmudic text.[3]

Unlike other mosaics found in the region, the Reḥob mosaic has very little in the form of ornate design and symmetric patterns, but is unique due to its inscription. The inscription is considered by scholars to be one of the most important epigraphical findings discovered in the Holy Land in the last century. Its text sheds invaluable light on the historical geography of Palestine during the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, as well as on Jewish and non-Jewish ethnographic divisions in Palestine for the same periods.

The mosaic describes the body of Jewish law regulating the use of farm products grown in different regions.[4] In Jewish tradition, certain laws are only applicable within the Land of Israel proper. By delineating the boundaries of the Land of Israel at the time, the mosaic seeks to establish the legal status of the country in its various parts from the time of the Jewish people's return from the Babylonian captivity.[5] It describes whether or not local farm products acquired by Jews from various sources are exempt from the laws of Seventh Year produce, and gives guidelines for dealing with demai produce (produce whose tithing status is uncertain).[6]

History

The mosaic was located in an ancient synagogue within a Late Roman and Byzantine-period Jewish village located about one kilometre (0.6 mile) northwest of Tel Rehov in what is now northeast Israel. The area preserved the old name in the form of Rehov (Hebrew) or Roob/Roōb (Latin).

According to excavator F. Vitto, the village synagogue underwent three phases of construction and reconstruction. It was first built as a basilical hall in the 4th century CE. The hall was destroyed by a fire and rebuilt in the following century, with the addition of a bemah, of a new mosaic floor and a plaster coating for the walls and pillars, decorated with several inscriptions. In the last phase, dating to the 6th or 7th century CE, the narthex was added, on whose floor the mosaiced inscription was laid. Others put the creation of the halakhic inscription in the late 3rd century CE at the earliest. The synagogue was probably abandoned after being destroyed in an earthquake.

The site of the ancient Jewish village was later the location of the Palestinian village of Farwana, documented at least since the Ottoman period, and depopulated during the 1948 war. Kibbutz Ein HaNetziv was established in 1946 on land including the ancient site.

The remains of the ancient synagogue were first discovered by members of Kibbutz Ein HaNetziv while preparing their lands for cultivation in the late 1960s. An archaeological excavation of the site in 1973, led by a team under IAA's Fanny Vitto, revealed the mosaic and its content, which has been on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem since 1978.[7]

Description of mosaic

The mosaic pieces are made of black limestone tesserae contrasted against a white background. The mosaic measures 4.3mx2.75mm (14.1feetx09.02feetm), with an accompanying text written on 29 lines, comprising a total of 364 words, with an average length of 4m (13feet) to each line. It begins with the salutation Shalom ("Peace") followed by a long halakhic text, and ends with Shalom once more. It is followed by an appendix where it lists some eighteen towns in the vicinity of Sebaste (the ancient city of Samaria) whose fruits and vegetables were exempt from tithes and the stringencies applied to Seventh Year produce. There is little uniformity in the size of the letters, and the spelling of some words is faulty. Portions of the main text contain elements that are related to late second-century rabbinic literature, particularly that found in the Tosefta (Shevi'it 4:8–11), the Jerusalem Talmud (Demai 2:1; Shevi'it 6:1) and Sifrei on Deuteronomy 11:24, although the mosaic of Reḥob expands on aspects of each. Some scholars have raised the hypothesis that the content of the mosaic was copied from a letter sent by the Sages of Israel to the heads of the synagogue. At any rate, it is the largest known text found on any Hebrew mosaic in Israel to date, as well as the oldest known Talmudic text. The more ancient text in the Reḥob mosaic has been used to correct errors in transmission of extant rabbinic texts.

From a philological perspective, the system of spelling in the mosaic follows the Beth-Shean practice of enunciation, where ʻayin is often interchanged with aleph, and ḥet is often interchanged with he, as is alluded to in the Jerusalem Talmud (Berakhot 2:4).

Legal (halakhic) background

The text in the Reḥob mosaic is best understood in the context of Jewish law at the time, which required the tithing of agricultural produce six years out of a seven-year cycle, as well as the observance of Seventh Year law strictures on the same produce once in every seven years.

The underlying principle in Jewish law states that when the exiles returned from the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century BCE, the extent of territories resettled by them in Galilee and in Judea did not equal nor exceed the territory originally conquered by the Israelite people according to the biblical book of Joshua, more commonly referred to as "those who came-up from Egypt."[8] The eight regions described by the mosaic are: the area of Scythopolis (now Beit She'an) and the Jordan Valley, Susita (Hippos) and its neighbouring settlements on the east bank of the Sea of Galilee, Naveh (now Nawa, Syria) in the Roman province of Arabia Petraea, Tyre, Lebanon and its neighbouring cities to the south, the Land of Israel proper, the cities of Paneas and Caesarea Maritima, and finally villages in the vicinity of Sebaste.

The practical bearing of this restructuring of boundaries (although still part of the biblical Land of Israel proper) meant that places then settled by gentile residents in the land (whether Phoenicians, Syrians, Greeks, or otherwise) and not taken by Israel were not deemed as consecrated land. Therefore, fruits and vegetables grown in such places and purchased by Jews were exempt from the laws of tithing, and of Seventh Year restrictions. However, if fruits and vegetables were purchased by gentile vendors from Israelites in their respective places and transported into these non-consecrated places in order to be sold in the marketplaces, they were still made subject to tithing as demai-produce by prospective Jewish buyers.[9]

Beit She'an was a frontier city along the country's eastern front with Transjordan, and since it was not initially settled by Israelites upon their return from Babylon (although later Israelites had joined the local inhabitants) all home-grown fruits and vegetables there were made exempt from tithing in the days of Judah HaNasi.[10] Rabbi Judah HaNasi also made Beit Gubrin exempt from tithes and from the seventh-year observance, since that stretch of country had been settled by the Idumaeans (Esau's descendants) when the Jewish people returned from the Babylonian captivity.

Translation of ancient text

['''Excursus:''' The agricultural products named above were not cultivated in Beit She'an, but were brought into the city by donkey drivers (either Jewish [[Am ha'aretz|rustics]] or non-Jews) who had bought them from Jewish planters in other regions of the country to be sold in the marketplace of Beit She'an.[11] To this list can be added the special fruits peculiar to the Hebrew nation and mentioned in Mishnah (Demai 2:1), if perchance they were acquired by a Jew from his fellow co-religionist who was unskillful in the laws of his countrymen, such as a cultivar of dates grown only in Israel, cakes of dried figs that were prepared strictly in Israel, and carob-fruit of a quality found only in Israel. In this case, they too would require the removal of the tithe known as demai. All other fruits and vegetables cultivated in Beit She'an would have been exempt from tithing altogether; when Rabbi Judah HaNasi permitted the eating of vegetables in the Seventh Year in Beit She'an,[12] it was a release from the Seventh Year obligations and the release from tithing all produce throughout the remaining six years of the seven-year cycle.[13] ]

(Translation of text - con't.)

['''Excursus:''' The import of detailing the above frontier towns and villages was to show the boundaries of the Land of Israel as retained by the Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity. Where agricultural produce was prohibited from Jews living in these areas, this implies that these places were originally part of those places settled by the returnees from Babylon. Since the land was consecrated by their arrival in those parts, all fruits and vegetables were prohibited until the time that they could be tithed, and the land was required to lie fallow during the Seventh Year. However, where the places were designated as "dubious," this is explained in the Tosefta (''Shevi'it'' 4:8) as meaning that initially these places were permitted (as there was no requirement to tithe produce grown in these places). Later, [[Chazal|Jewish leaders]] made all fruits and vegetables in these places prohibited until they were first tithed.[14] ]

Regulation of produce between Achziv (Chezib) and Tyre

The maritime city of Akko (Ptolemais), and the river south of Achziv (Chezib), a small coastal town ca. 15km (09miles) north of Akko, according to the Mishnah (Demai 1:3 and Gittin 1:2), were the extent of the northern boundary settled by Jews returning from the Babylonian captivity in the days of Ezra.

Produce locally grown in the country beyond Achziv was exempt from the rules of demai-produce, but if purchased from Achziv itself, it required tithing.[15] Although the towns and villages (listed below) were traditionally outside of the territorial bounds occupied by Jews returning from Babylonia, these cities nevertheless attracted Jewish settlement. In addition, fruits and vegetables grown in the Land of Israel were often transported northward, along the route known as the Ladder of Tyre (סולמיה דצור‏ sûləmith dəṢûr). Israelites who frequented these areas, or who had moved there, were likely to buy fruits that had not been properly tithed in Israel, or had been marketed during the sabbatical year.

(Translation of text - con't.)

Boundary of the Land of Israel in the 5th c. BCE

The following frontier cities once marked the boundary of the Land of Israel, or the extent of places repopulated after the return from Babylonian exile. In a broader sense, the list of frontier towns and villages herein named represent the geographical limits of regulations imposed upon all agricultural produce, making them fully liable to tithing and to sabbatical-year restrictions within that same border, or, in the event of being purchased from the common people of the land, to separate therefrom only the demai-tithe. As one moved further east of Achziv, the border extended northward, into what are now portions of south Lebanon, and as far east as places in the present-day Kingdom of Jordan. While the settlements here named reflect a historical reality, bearing heavily on Jewish legal law (Halacha), they did not always reflect a political reality.[16]

(Translation of text - con't.)

['''Excursus:''' [[Jose ben Joezer]] of Ẓareda and Jose ben Yoḥanan of Jerusalem decreed defilement in respect of the country of the gentiles (BT, Shabbat 14b), meaning that the priests of Aaron's lineage should not venture beyond the borders of Israel. In doing so, they risk becoming defiled by corpse-uncleanness and, in turn, defile their offerings (which must needs be eaten by them in a state of ritual purity). Ashkelon was long deemed as one of such cities, as it was settled by gentiles and not conquered by Jews upon their return from the Babylonian exile.[17] The Jerusalem Talmud (Shevi'it 6:1) relates how Rabbi Phinehas ben Jair, a priest of Aaron's lineage, and others with him, used to go down into the marketplace of the Saracens in Ashkelon to buy wheat during the Seventh Year, and return to their own city, and immerse themselves in order to eat their bread (Terumah) in a state of ritual purity.]

Caesarea Maritima

The maritime city of Caesarea was an enclave along the Mediterranean coast not immediately settled by Jewish émigrés returning from the Babylonian exile. Later, however, Jews joined the inhabitants of the city. In the 1st century CE, it was still principally settled by foreigners, mostly Grecians. To ease the strictures placed upon the poor of the Jewish nation during the Seventh Year (since planting was prohibited throughout that year, and after-growths could not be taken by the people), Rabbi Judah HaNasi (2nd century CE) released the city (and its bounds) from the obligation of tithing locally-grown produce, and from the restrictions associated with Seventh Year produce.[18] Nevertheless, on certain products, the separation of the demai tithe was still required.

(Translation of text - con't.)

Addendum: Permitted towns in region of Sebaste

Between the regions of Judea and Galilee in Palestine lay an intermediate stretch of land known as "the strip of the Samaritans.", also known as "Samaria", Jews often passed through the region, while en route from Galilee to Jerusalem during the three annual pilgrimages, and again when returning home.Although the region of Samaria was not seized at the very outset by those Jews returning from the Babylonian exile, the priests of Aaron's descent were still permitted to pass through that section of the country, without fear of experiencing defilement in respect to the country of the gentiles. Nonetheless, there were some places in Samaria that were exempt from tithes, as if they had been a foreign land.

The Jerusalem Talmud, when speaking about the impropriety of leaving the Land of Israel, describes the standard rule of practice of the time: "Said Rabbi Abbahu: 'There are hamlets belonging to the Samaritans wherein it has been customary to permit [a Jew's passage through them], since the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, and they are permitted' (i.e. released from the laws requiring tithing of produce)."[19]

The reason for this exemption is explained by Talmudic exegete, Solomon Sirilio, as being that these villages in Samaria and their suburbs had the status of feudal or usufruct lands given by grant from the state to farm-laborers.[20] This was enough to exempt such produce from the requirement of tithing, since the kingdom (Ptolemaic, Roman, or otherwise) had not forfeited its hold over such lands, and since the Jewish regulations for tithing prescribe that produce or grain that is to be tithed must be the property of its tither.[21] The following list of towns concerns those hamlets held by the state in the region of Sebaste (the biblical city of Samaria) and which were, therefore, exempt from the laws of tithing. The list is not known from any other source, and is only alluded to in the Jerusalem Talmud.

(Translation of text - con't.)In Jewish Mishnaic law, the Samaritans were obligated to separate tithes from their produce, and where they were negligent, Jews who purchased such fruits and vegetables were required to separate the tithes before they could be eaten.[22] The towns in Samaria that were exempt from tithing have been understood to mean that they were farmsteads owned by non-Jewish landlords, which made the fruits grown in those villages permitted to be taken in the Seventh-year and in other years (see supra).[20] Sussmann holds that they were "typically Grecian towns." In contrast, the Mishnah, compiled by Rabbi Judah HaNassi in 189 CE, mentions other cities and towns of Samaria, such as Badan and Gebaʻ, that require tithing of produce.[23]

Practical bearing

Those places south of Ashkelon in the general vicinity of Gaza have the status of lands not settled by those returning from the Babylonian captivity, although they were formerly settled by the Israelites who came up out of Egypt. This geographical region, also known as Gush Katif and the Gaza envelope, renders fruits and vegetables grown there subject to special laws during the Seventh Year, such that the land cannot be tilled or worked by Jews during the Seventh Year, but fruits and vegetables grown there can be eaten all throughout the Seventh Year, and do not require "removal" (= biʻūr), as in other places in the Land of Israel during the Seventh Year.[24] [25] [26] Others explain that all fruits and vegetables grown in this territory can be eaten and are exempt from tithing throughout the entire Seven-Year cycle,[26] [25] [27] and that the sanctity ordinarily applied to Seventh Year produce does not apply to fruits and vegetables grown in this region.[27] Fruits and vegetables grown in the same region and which were cultivated strictly by non-Jewish workers during the Seventh Year can be purchased and eaten by Jews, while the sanctity ordinarily applied to Seventh Year produce does not apply to such fruits and vegetables.

Maimonides, taking a different approach, explains that the allowance to eat fruits and vegetables that grow in this region during the Seventh Year refers to eating "aftergrowths", and which are ordinarily prohibited to eat in the Seventh Year in other places in the Land of Israel.[28] [29] He opines, moreover, that the sanctity of Seventh Year produce still applies to this territory.[30]

By virtue of the long historical reality, Jewish law operated for many years as a living legal system under the auspices of the sovereignty of foreign governments with their own legal systems.[31] Throughout all these years, Jews were beholden to their ancient laws, and to the principle that the Land of Israel remains eternally under special sanctity – thus, obligating the Jewish people at all times to separate the agricultural tithes and to observe the laws of the Sabbatical year and its first fruits, regardless of the geopolitics of the country, or what names people attach to the country. All these laws are contingent upon the country's ancient boundaries, when the returning Jewish exiles resettled the country after the Babylonian captivity.

See also

Bibliography

. Tosefta. Tosephta - Based on the Erfut and Vienna Codices. 1970. Wahrmann Books . Jerusalem. M.S. Zuckermandel . Moses Samuel Zuckermandl . he. 13717538 . (first printed in Berlin 1899)

Further reading

External links

2nd edition, 1865

Notes and References

  1. Feliks, Yehuda (1986), pp. 454–455 (the actual time-frame of its making is disputed)
  2. The actual archaeological site was located ca. 800m (2,600feet) northwest of Tel Rehov. See ; Web site: Archived copy . 15 July 2019 . 1 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190801154350/https://museum.imj.org.il/journal/archive/2015/images/Fanny%20Vitto.pdf . bot: unknown . .
  3. . Quote: [p. 123] "The inscription contains twenty-nine long lines, among which are 1807 letters! It is, by far, larger than all the inscriptions discovered until now among mosaic flooring, whether those belonging to ancient synagogues or those belonging to other structures. Thus, for example, it is more than three-times larger than the inscription found at Ein Gedi, which was discovered a few years ago, and which was, until now, the largest one discovered in the country." [...] [p. 124] "This is the first time that we have access to any Talmudic text inscribed close to the time of its inception and in close proximity to the centers of Talmudic formulation in the Land of Israel, a text that was inscribed, presumably, not too far after the redaction of the original Palestinian work, and in a place that is nigh the spiritual center of the Land of Israel during the Talmudic era: viz., Tiberias of the 5th-century (B)CE (sic). The text before us is not dependent upon the textual tradition of handwritten manuscripts, the pathway in which the Palestinian Talmudic literature has reached us; nor was it transferred unto us by way of reed pens (calamus) used by the scribes, copyists and proofreaders of various kinds, and for this reason it is invaluable for offering a critique on the Talmudic text. What is especially important is the clear Palestinian spelling of words, and their original versions of many geographical place-names, two areas that were rife with copyist-errors, and those made by proofreaders."
  4. ; et al.
  5. ;, et al.
  6. ; Jewish legal inscription from a synagogue, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
  7. Archaeology Wing - Ward 6 (The Holy Land).
  8. Babylonian Talmud (Hullin 7a; Yebamot 16a); Maimonides (1974), vol. 4, Hil. Terumot 1:5–6
  9. . The term "demai" is a Halakhic term meaning "dubious," referring to agricultural produce, the owner of which was not trusted with regard to the correct separation of the tithes assigned to the Levites, although the terumah (the part designated unto priests) was believed to have been separated from such fruits. In such "dubious" cases, all that was necessary was to separate the one-tenth portion due to the priests from the First Tithe given to the Levites, being the 1/100th part of the whole. The Second Tithe is also removed (redeemed) from the fruit in such cases of doubt.
  10. [Babylonian Talmud]
  11. Commentary of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky on the Jerusalem Talmud (Demai 2:1), published in the Jerusalem Talmud, the 2010 Oz ve'Hadar edition, p. 17a (s.v.).
  12. That is to say, when he released Israel from observing the restrictions associated with that year (such as the rabbinic prohibition of eating "aftergrowths," or the requirement to discard from one's home any Seventh Year fruit once the growing season for such fruit had ended and the like of such fruit could no longer be found in the fields (see: ; Obadiah of Bertinoro). However,, has explained that Rabbi Judah HaNasi would still require the tithing of any of the five cereal grains, grapes, and olives in Beit She'an, since the Torah commands to tithe only these three categories of produce, whereas all other kinds of produce are merely a rabbinic injunction.
  13. [Jerusalem Talmud]
  14. Cf., for the parallel text of this section in the Tosefta.
  15. Based on Tosefta Demai 1:10 (end), which states: "[Produce purchased from] a caravan which goes down to Kheziv is liable [to be tithed] since it is presumed to have come from Galilee."
  16. .
  17. [Jerusalem Talmud]
  18. [Jerusalem Talmud]
  19. [Jerusalem Talmud]
  20. [Solomon Sirilio]
  21. [Solomon Sirilio]
  22. .
  23. , identified with Jabaʻ in Samaria (171192) and with reference to Mishnah Kelim 17:5 and where the town of Geba is mentioned as being located in Samaria. As for the Samaritan town of Badan, see Mishnah (Kelim 17:5). The same town is explained by the sequel to the Mishnah, the Tosefta (Kelim - Baba Metzia 6:10), as belonging to the Samaritans: “They did not mention the pomegranates of Bāden nor the leeks of Gebaʻ of the House of the Samaritans (Heb. Kūthīm) except to say that they are tithed as produce [that went] certainly untithed.”
  24. [Mishnah]
  25. Book: Haparchi, Ishtori. Ishtori Haparchi

    . Ishtori Haparchi. Avraham Yosef Havatzelet. Kaftor wa-Ferach. Ashkelon and Gaza . 1 (chapter 7) . 148 . 2004. Jerusalem. he. 32307172.

  26. Book: Rozenboim . David Yonah. Jerusalem Talmud . he:תלמוד ירושלמי עוז והדר . Talmud Yerushalmi . 2 . Oz ve-Hadar . 2010 . FriedmanOz ve-Hadar. New York . 41b (Shevi'it 6:1) . he . 695123759 ., Commentary of Solomon Sirilio
  27. [Tosefta]
  28. [Maimonides]
  29. Book: Rozenboim . David Yonah. Jerusalem Talmud . he:תלמוד ירושלמי עוז והדר . Talmud Yerushalmi . 2 . Oz ve-Hadar . 2010 . FriedmanOz ve-Hadar. New York . 42a (Shevi'it 6:1) . he . 695123759 ., Commentary of Solomon Sirilio
  30. [Maimonides]
  31. Book: Elon, Menachem . Menachem Elon . Jewish Law: History, Sources, Principles (Ha-mišpaṭ ha-ʻivri - toldotav, meḳorotav, ʻiḳronotav). 1 (parts I-II). 2 . Hebrew University: Magnes Press . Jerusalem . 1978 . 51 . he . 14813103 .
  32. Jacob Sussmann (1975) corrects this to read: ופילי דאגמה = the Gate of the marshland.
  33. The mosaic was defected in this part. Reconstruction based on Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125.
  34. The mosaic was defected in this part. Reconstruction based on Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125. Similarly, the first letter was corrected by Sussmann to read: דבר סנגורה, since the daleth was confounded with resh.
  35. Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125, corrects the reading here to read: וחשבון.
  36. The Hebrew characters ḥet (ח) and he (ה) are often confounded. Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125, corrects this to read: נחלה דזרד, just as it appears in the Tosefta (Shevi'it 4:11).
  37. Since the Hebrew characters resh (ר) and daleth (ד) are often confounded, Jacob Sussmann (1975), p. 125, corrects the text here to read: למידבר.
  38. Since the final mim (ם) and samekh (ס) in Hebrew are often confounded, the last letter of this word has been corrected by Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125, to read: בפניס.
  39. Since the letters resh and daleth are often confounded, Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125, corrects the reading here to read: הרי.
  40. Since the letters resh and daleth are often confounded, Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125, corrects the reading here to read: ודיי.
  41. Corrected by Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125, to read: המותרות; the word was also missing the letter tau (ת), here completed by Sussmann (ibid.).
  42. Corrected by Sussmann, Jacob (1975), p. 125, to read: ציר.