The Mosaic of Reḥob (Hebrew: כתובת רחוב, romanized: k'tovet rechov, 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][3] 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) south of Beit She'an and about 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) 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.^[4]

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Mosaic of Rehob

Mosaic of Rehob
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Alternative name	Inscription of Tel Rehov
Location	Tell el-Farwana (Khirbet Farwana), Israel
Region	Beit She'an, Israel
Coordinates	32°27′47″N 35°29′37″E
Type	Mosaic
Part of	Synagogue
Area	4.30 by 2.75 metres (14.1 ft × 9.0 ft)
History
Founded	c. late 3rd century CE[1]
Abandoned	7th century CE
Periods	Roman to Byzantine
Cultures	Byzantine
Site notes
Excavation dates	1973
Archaeologists	Yaakov Sussmann, Shaul Lieberman, Fanny Vitto
Condition	Good (although removed from locale)
Ownership	Israel Museum
Public access	Yes, both to the museum and to the open field with scarce remains
Website	www.imj.org.il/en/

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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.^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^{[7][lower-alpha 1]} 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).^[9]

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).^[10][11][12]

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.^[13] Others put the creation of the halakhic inscription in the late 3rd century CE at the earliest.^[14] The synagogue was probably abandoned after being destroyed in an earthquake.^[15]

The site of the ancient Jewish village was later the location of the Palestinian village of Farwana,^[16] 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.^[17]

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.^[18][19]

The mosaic pieces are made of black limestone tesserae contrasted against a white background. The mosaic measures 4.30 by 2.75 metres (14.1 ft × 9.0 ft), with an accompanying text written on 29 lines, comprising a total of 364 words,^[20] with an average length of 4 metres (13 ft) 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),^[21] the Jerusalem Talmud (Demai 2:1; Shevi'it 6:1)^[18][21] and Sifrei on Deuteronomy 11:24,^[21] 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.^[18] 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.^[22] The more ancient text in the Reḥob mosaic has been used to correct errors in transmission of extant rabbinic texts.^[23]

From a philological perspective, the system of spelling in the mosaic follows the Beth-Shean practice of enunciation, where ʻayin (ע‎) is often interchanged with aleph (א‎), and ḥet (ח‎) is often interchanged with he (ה‎), as is alluded to in the Jerusalem Talmud (Berakhot 2:4).^[18]

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.^[8]

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."^[24] 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.^[13]

The practical bearing of this restructuring of boundaries (although still part of the biblical Land of Israel proper)^{[lower-alpha 2]} meant that places then settled by non-Jewish residents in the land (whether Phoenicians, Syrians, Greeks, or otherwise) and not taken by Israel were not deemed as consecrated land.^{[lower-alpha 3]} 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.^[25]

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^{[lower-alpha 4]}) all home-grown fruits and vegetables there were made exempt from tithing in the days of Judah HaNasi.^[26] 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.^[27]

Shalom. These fruits are forbidden in Beit She'an during the Seventh Year, but during other years of the seven-year cycle they are tithed as demai-produce: cucumbers,^{[lower-alpha 5]} watermelons, muskmelons,^{[lower-alpha 6]} parsnip (carrots),^{[lower-alpha 7]} mint that is bound by itself,^[28] the Egyptian broad beans^[29] that are bound with reed grass,^{[lower-alpha 8]} wild leeks^{[lower-alpha 9]} between Shavuot and Hanukkah,^{[lower-alpha 10]} the seed kernels,^{[lower-alpha 11]} black cumin,^{[lower-alpha 12]} sesame, mustard, rice, cumin, dried lupines,^{[lower-alpha 13]} large-sized peas^{[lower-alpha 14]} that are sold by measure, garlic, scallions^{[lower-alpha 15]} of the city that are sold by measure, grape hyacinths,^{[lower-alpha 16]} late-ripening dates,^[30] wine, [olive] oil, on the Seventh Year the seventh-year laws apply [to them]; on the [other] years of the seven-year cycle, they are tithed as demai-produce, and [if there was] a loaf of bread, the Dough portion (Heb. ḥallah) is always [separated from it].^{[lower-alpha 17][31]}

[Excursus: The agricultural products named above were not cultivated in Beit She'an, but were brought into the city by donkey drivers (either Jewish rustics or non-Jews) who had bought them from Jewish planters in other regions of the country^{[lower-alpha 18]} to be sold in the marketplace of Beit She'an.^[32] 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,^{[lower-alpha 19]} 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,^[33] 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.^[34]]

(Translation of text - con't.)

These are the places that are permitted in the vicinity of Beit She'an:^{[lower-alpha 20]} southward, that is to say, [from] the Gate of Ḳumpōn^{[lower-alpha 21]} extending as far as the White Field;^{[lower-alpha 22]} from the west, that is to say, [from] the Gate of Zayara extending as far as the end of the pavement; from the north, that is to say, the Gate of Sakkūtha extending as far as Kefar Ḳarnos,^[36] while Kefar Ḳarnos [itself] is deemed as Beit She'an;^{[lower-alpha 23]} and from the east, that is to say, the Gate of the Dung-spreaders^{[lower-alpha 24]} extending as far as the monument of Fannuqatiah,^{[lower-alpha 25]} while the Gate of Kefar Zimrin and the Gate of the marshland,^[37] in those places that are within the gate, [what is grown] is permitted, but beyond [the gate without, what is grown] is prohibited.^{[lower-alpha 26]} The towns that are prohibited in the region of Sussitha (Hippos)^{[lower-alpha 27]} [are as follows]: 'Ayyanosh,^[38] 'Ain-Ḥura,^{[lower-alpha 28]} Dambar,^[39] 'Ayūn,^{[lower-alpha 29]} Ya'arūṭ,^[40] Kefar Yaḥrīb,^[41] Nob,^[42] Ḥisfiyyah,^[43] Kefar Ṣemaḥ; now the Rabbi (Judah HaNasi) permitted Kefar Ṣemaḥ.^[44] The towns that are of a dubious nature in the region of Naveh^[45] [are as follows]: Ṣeir,^[46] Ṣayyer,^[47] Gashmai,^[48] Zayzūn,^[49] Renab and its ruin,^[50] Igorei Ḥoṭem,^[51] and the fortified city (kerakh) of the son of Harag.^[31][52]

[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, Jewish leaders made all fruits and vegetables in these places prohibited until they were first tithed.^[53]]

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" (ביעור‎ = biʻūr), as in other places in the Land of Israel during the Seventh Year.^{[125][126][127][128]} 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,^{[129][128][127][130]} and that the sanctity ordinarily applied to Seventh Year produce does not apply to fruits and vegetables grown in this region.^[131][130] 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.^[132]

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" (ספיחין‎), and which are ordinarily prohibited to eat in the Seventh Year in other places in the Land of Israel.^{[133][134][135]} He opines, moreover, that the sanctity of Seventh Year produce still applies to this territory.^[136]

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.^[137] Throughout all these years, Jews were beholden to their ancient laws, and to the principle that the Land of Israel (also known as Palestine) 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.

• Impurity of the land of the nations
• Laws and customs of the Land of Israel in Judaism
• Shmita
• Tithes in Judaism
• Turos Amanus
• Zodiac Synagogue mosaic