Rutherford Weekly

A Rutherfordton student was among a team of college students and specialists who spent fi ve weeks on a Huqoq synagogue dig in Israel from May 28 to July 4. Caroline King, a student at UNC- Chapel Hill and daughter of Bryan and Kristi King of Rutherfordton, joined other university students from Chapel Hill, Austin College, Brigham Young University and the University of Toronto, on the dig to the 1,600-year- old synagogue at Huqog. According to University Communications, the dig was the 11th and fi nal season of excavations in the synagogue at Huqou. Led by UNC-Chapel Hill professor Jodi Magness, the team has uncovered a spectacular mosaic panel in the late Roman (ca. 400 C.E.) synagogue at Huqoq, an ancient Jewish village in Israel's Lower Galilee. The panel, which identifi es the mosaic donors or artists, decorates the fl oor just inside the main entrance, Magness said in a news release from UNC. The excavation revealed a panel with an inscription commemorating the donors who funded the mosaic or the artists who made it, Magness explained. An additional panel discovered featured a dead Philistine horseman and soldier continuing the story of Samson fi rst discovered in digs in 2012 and 2013. "The newly discovered mosaic consists of a large panel, in the center of which is an enigmatic Hebrew inscription framed within a wreath. To the sides and below the wreath, an Aramaic inscription lists the names either of the donors who provided funding for the synagogue's mosaics or the artists who made them, asking that they be remembered for good. The wreath is fl anked on either side by lions resting their forepaws on bulls' heads. The entire panel is surrounded by a decorated border showing animals of prey pursuing other animals," she said in the press release from UNC. The summer's excavations also exposed additional sections of mosaic panels that were discovered in 2012 and 2013, which depict the episodes of Samson and the foxes as mentioned in Judges 15:4 and Samson carrying the gate of Gaza on his shoulders referenced in Judges 16:3. Caroline attended the dig in relation to her studies at UNC as an archaeology major. She is getting a double major in medical anthropology and archaeology with a minor in chemistry. She hadn't been outside of the United States before the Israel trip, "So everything I was experiencing was brand new to me. Growing up Christian it was diffi cult to try and wrap my head around the fact that I was in the same place that I have read and heard about all of these years." During the fi rst days of the trip, Caroline said she had diffi culty being accustomed to waking up so early in the morning. "We had to be on the bus to go to the site by about 4:30 a.m. and we would work until about 11:45 (with multiple water and food breaks, of course). After a week or so, though, I got used to it and I really enjoyed my time there." Caroline returns to Chapel Hill for the fi rst day of fall classes on August 21. "School is going great. I have been really enjoying Carolina and the friends I have made up there. I've been active in the Newman Catholic Community and have found a home with those people. I spend most of my spare time there hanging out or studying with my friends. We defi nitely do a lot of CookOut runs during fi nals season." National Geographic photographed the dig, but Caroilne says she doesn't have access to the photos. Although an awarding winning horseback rider prior to college, she hasn't been riding as much as she once did. "But I still get a ride in here and there. Even though I am not really riding right now, it is something I am defi nitely going to keep up and get back into once I am done with school," she added. Continued on page 2. ISSUE NO. 33 • August 17, 2023 ISSUE NO. 33 • August 17, 2023 • • RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408 RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408 To donate, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or visit redcrossblood.org The need for blood is constant! Every 2 seconds someone in the US needs a blood transfusion! N.C. TRACTOR & FARM SUPPLY 299 Railroad Ave., Rutherfordton • 828-288-0395 Mobile: 828-429-5008 • mf1dpshehan@gmail.com SALES • SERVICE • PARTS IF YOU BUY ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WILL PAY TOO MUCH! IF YOU BUY ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WILL PAY TOO MUCH! PROUDLY SERVING RUTHERFORD, CLEVELAND, GASTON, LINCOLN, POLK COUNTIES AS THE AREAS HOMETOWN MASSEY FERGUSON DEALER. Great Selection Great Selection Our 31 st Year • Over 25,000 Weekly Readers Article by Jean Gordon. Photos by Jim Haberman. Rutherfordton woman participates Rutherfordton woman participates in an Israel archaeological dig in an Israel archaeological dig SMALL TOWN FRIENDLY, BIG TIME RESULTS Professor Jodi Magness with current and former UNC students at the Huqoq excavations in Israel in 2023. Front row (left to right): Jodi Magness, Chrissy Stamey, Jocelyn Burney, Madi Huffman, Juan Rodriguez, Olivia Clark, Qinnan Hua and Caroline King; Second row: Hania Kantzer, Matthew Grey, Zihan Liu, Jada Enoch, Emily Branton and David Richman. Not pictured are Daniel Schindler (former Ph.D. student) and Blaine Jenkins (current undergraduate student). Caroline King sitting on a wall in Machaerus, Jordan. The Dead Sea is in the background.

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