Ο Σαμψών κι ο ήλιος στις συναγωγές της Γαλιλαίας / Samson and the sun in the synagogues of Galilee

Στην ηλεκτρονική έκδοση της Haaretz ο Elchanan Reiner δημοσιεύει ένα ενδιαφέρον κείμενο σχετικά με τις παραστάσεις του Σαμψών και του ήλιου στις συναγωγές της Γαλιλαίας. Ο συγγραφέας εντοπίζει σε αυτήν την ιδιαίτερη εικονογραφική παράδοση τη συνάντηση δύο παραδόσεων, του Σαμψών και του Ιησού του Ναυί:

"Samson follows the sun to Galilee"
Καθώς το άρθρο δεν είναι ελεύθερο σε όσους δεν είναι συνδρομητές της εφημερίδας παραθέτουμε μερικά αποσπάσματα:

"The appearance of the sun god in the Galilean synagogues gave rise to a rich harvest of studies aimed at dealing with the gap between the image created by the literary sources and what was reflected on the synagogue floors. The main avenues of research since the question arose may be summed up like this: The depictions are indicative of the existence of a non-rabbinical trend in Judaism, not based on the teachings of the sages, which existed along with the Galilean houses of study, during the period when the Talmudic writings were being redacted. Thus, the researchers tried to reconcile and incorporate the apparently alien world of the newly discovered images with that of the study houses and the sages.

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What the mosaic floors are saying is first and foremost that God, or some aspect of God, is symbolized in Galilee and the surrounding area by the sun, and this is exactly what the image drawn at the center of the synagogue is conveying.
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The figures of Samson at Huqoq and Wadi Hamam therefore represent a single local tradition shared by all the inhabitants of the surrounding area, a tradition that in various ways, which are currently unknown, connects Samson to the place - to Galilee or to a specific location within it, which we cannot yet identity. The Samson tradition in Galilee is, therefore, a Galilean interpretation of the biblical story of Samson.

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The transfer of Samson to Galilee is therefore a mythical reading of the Scriptures, a placement of the biblical story in the Galileans' own experience. This is the act of myth. Thus the Scriptures were given a local reading by the inhabitants of the Galilee. Therefore the graves of the tribes become identified with the Arbel, the Sea of Galilee becomes the Jordan River the Children of Israel crossed and in it reposes Miriam's well, which marks the border between the wilderness and the fertile land. In this way the Galilean terrain on the western side of the Jordan was shaped as the essence of the Land of Israel experience in the eyes of its inhabitants."