Image Details

The sun god Helios, embodied in human form, and his four horses seem to be charging directly at the viewer in a floor mosaic from the sixth-century C.E. synagogue at Beit Alpha, in northern Israel. The moon and the stars encircle the figures. In ancient Israel the sun and other celestial bodies were often equated with angels, as reflected in the Psalms: “Praise the Lord out of heaven; praise him in the heights. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host. Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars; praise him, heaven of heavens” (Psalms 148:1–4).