From the third to the seventh centuries of the Common Era, Graeco-Roman images such as mosaics with David portrayed as Orpheus with the animals, and the zodiac with the sun-god Helios in the center were commonly depicted in ancient synagogues. How was this possible in light of the second commandment and strong biblical prohibitions (Gen 20:4; Lev 26:1; Num 33:52; Deut 7:5; II Kings 23:24; Isaiah 17:8; Michah 5:13) against images?

Jewish figural civic and religious art was strongly influenced by the Graeco-Roman environment. I will utilize the Jerusalem Talmud and Babylonian Talmud to show how Jewish worshippers tolerated these images.
The archaeological remains of ancient synagogues show that classical images were not only common, but quite fashionable.

Often in mosaic floors found in ancient synagogues, one will find the combination of Helios, the zodiac signs, and the four Seasons in the same composite.
The zodiac in Graeco-Roman art was first depicted on ceilings and later introduced into mosaics.
Representations of the zodiac are found at Hammath Tiberias, (fourth century AD); Husifa, (fifth century AD); Na'aran, (sixth century AD); Beth Alpha, (sixth century AD); and perhaps at Beth Yirah, (fifth century AD).
At Na'aran and Husifa, the zodiac reads clockwise, while at Hammath Tiberias and Beth Alpha, the circle runs counterclockwise.
At Hammath Tiberias, all the human and animal figures are naked and in motion, while at Beth Alpha and Na'aran they are all clothed and stationary.
In the zodiac mosaics from Antioch, one finds decorative patterns replacing the four Seasons in the corners.

The following system was compiled by Antiochus of Athens to show the Neo-Pythagorean connections between the zodiac, the Seasons, and astrology:

The zodiac signs of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini are associated with the Season Spring, the Age of childhood, the South Wind, and the Element Air.
The zodiac signs of Cancer, Leo, and Virgo are associated with the Season Summer, the Age of Youth, the East Wind, and the Element Fire.
The zodiac signs of Libra, Scorpio, and Sagitarius are associated with the Season Autumn, the Age of Manhood, the North Wind, and the Element of Earth.
The zodiac signs of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces are associated with the Season Winter, Old Age, the West Wind, and the Element of Water.

Belief in magic often existed side by side with more elevated beliefs.
Belief in the influence of the planets on the affairs of the world was part of the intellectual climate of the time.

Nilsson notes that like the Roman god Janus, astrology had two faces, one turned toward science, and the other toward superstition. It's fundamental presupposition was mythical, the transference of the name of a god and his character to a planet, whose influence was determined by this character. Its original achievement was that it worked up these mythical presuppositions with the aid of the exact sciences of astronomy and mathematics, while its fundamental flaw was the arbitrary character of the mythical presuppositions.

Also, surprisingly, many of these works were done by local Jewish craftsmen, not by imported Hellenic artisans.
However, there were probably Hellenic artisans who advised on techniques, and also did the work in some places, especially at Hammath Tiberias
The cultural implications of such syncretism of classical images has been difficult for some Jewish scholars to accept (Rosenau, 1979:23). Gutman (1983:19) considers Graeco-Roman symbols used in synagogues as unlikely to have retained any of their original symbolic value, serving instead a strictly decorative purpose.

However, Goodenough, in his Jewish Symbols in the Graeco-Roman Period contends that there has been a failure of most investigators to reckon openmindedly with the implications for classical Judaism of the relics of a supposedly aniconic faith with consistently used plastic symbols of all sizes, shapes, and significances.

One cannot lightly dismiss, as many have done, the astonishing appearance of pagan ornament in Jewish settings. Furthermore, we have noticed the danger of assuming that decorative value and symbolic value are mutually exclusive.

It should be noted that in every age dogmatic strictures by religious leaders against images may not necessarily have been in accord with prevailing practice.

Goodenough (VIII, 1958:224) has theorized that a mystical, illicit Judaism sprung up in defiance of normative, rabbinic Judaism in the Talmudic period. I intend to show that rather than belonging to a secretive subsect, the Graeco-Roman images were indeed an accepted part of normative, mainstream Judaism, especially as practiced in the cosmopolitan area of the Lower Galilee.

The figurative efflorescence in Jewish Art, which began in the third century CE, did not last much beyond the sixth century CE, when aniconic orthodoxy again held sway in Judaism even before iconoclastic trends took hold in Byzantium and Islam (Avi-Yonah, 1981:271).

The change, of permission for the use of images, can be traced to a Rabbi Abun, as recorded in a manuscript note of the Jerusalem Talmud, Aboda Zara, 3.2, 42b: "In the days of Rabbi Abun they began to depict designs on mosaics, and he did not hinder them."

Sukenik contends that the concession at first was meant only for private dwellings and found their way into synagogues later but certainly not before the first half of the fourth century, when Rabbi Abun lived.
In the Babylonian Talmud, Aboda Zara 3: "Rabbi Abayi solved the problem thus: the heathens, it is true, are worshipping many an object, but as regards images they worship only the sun, the moon, and the dragon."
Rabbi Sheshith taught thus: The images of all the planets are allowed, except those of the sun and the moon, All pictures are allowed, except those of a dragon."

The Jerusalem Talmud, Aboda Zara 4.4 also explains: "That which is treated as a god is forbidden, but that which is not treated as a god is permitted."

The trend of thought that allowed greater freedom in the choice of motifs included a permission found in the Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 22b: "You shall not set up a figured stone in your land, to bow down to it, but a mosaic pavement of designs and forms you may set in the floor of your places of worship, so long as you do not do obeisance to it."

In the Jerusalem Talmud, Aboda Zara 3:3-4 when a man named Peroquelos ben Peloselos asked Rabban Gamliel in the city of Akko, when he was washing in Aphrodite's bathhouse, "Why are you taking a bath in Aphrodite's bathhouse?" He replied, "I do not give answers to serious questions in a bathhouse." When they went out, Rabban Gamliel said to him, "I never came into her domain, she came into mine. They don't say, 'Let's make a bathhouse as an ornament to Aphrodite. But they say, Let's make Aphrodite as an ornament for the bathhouse.' And another matter: Even if someone gave you a lot of money, you would never walk into a temple of idolatry naked or suffering a flux. Yet this thing is standing there at the head of the gutter. ...'that which ones treats as a god is prohibited, but that which one does not treat as a god is permitted'."

Images and idols were ubiquitous in antiquity, as the great rabbi Akiba wrote: "I should explain this, wherever you find a high mountain, an elevated hill, a leafy tree, there is sure to be an idol there.."

Figurative works of art became possible from the third century onward for three reasons.
First the attitudes of the Rabbis changed to one of greater toleration. These changes were the result of political and social circumstances.
Second, the influence of surrounding Graeco-Roman culture, from which most classical and mythological motifs were taken, became stronger. Third, Jewish literature and legends began to influence artistic traditions (Hachlili, 1988:286)


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Jo Flavius (1991), Graeco-Roman Images in Ancient Synagogues in Israel, Harvard University.
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Sources
Avi-Yonah, M. (1981) Art in Ancient Palestine . Jerusalem: The Magnus Press.
Goodenough, E.R. (1953-1968) Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period, Vol. I-XIII . New York: Bollinger Series.
Gutmann, J. (1983) The Jewish Sanctuary . Leiden: E.J.Brill.
Hachlili, R. (1988) Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Land of Israel . Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Nilsson, M.P. (1943) The Rise of Astrology in the Hellenistic Age . Lund, Sweden: Meddelande Fran Lunds Astronomiska Observatorium.
Rosenau, H. (1979) Visions of the Temple . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sukenik, E.L. (1934) Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece . London: Oxford University Press.