Editing Helios (section)

=== Late Roman era ===
[[File:Beit Alpha.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Helios surrounded by the [[zodiac]] in a mosaic pavement of a 6th-century synagogue at [[Beth Alpha]], [[Israel]].]]

Helios was also frequently depicted in mosaics, usually surrounded by the twelve [[zodiac signs]] and accompanied by Selene. From the third and fourth centuries CE onwards, the sun god was seen as an official imperial Roman god and thus appeared in various forms in monumental artworks. The cult of Helios/Sol had a notable function in [[Land of Israel|Eretz Israel]]; Helios was [[Constantine the Great]]'s patron, and so that ruler came to be identified with Helios.<ref name=":steiny">Steinberg, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=g_MPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA144 144]</ref> In his new capital city, [[Constantinople]], Constantine recycled a statue of Helios to represent himself in his portrait, as [[Nero]] had done with Sol, which was not an uncommon practice among pagans.<ref>Long, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3dUUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA314 314]</ref> A considerable portion if not the majority of Jewish Helios material dates from the 3rd through the 6th centuries CE, including numerous mosaics of the god in Jewish synagogues and invocation in papyri.<ref>Kraemer, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SSbnCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA158 158]</ref>

[[File:Hamat-Tiberias-132.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Helios in the Hammat Tiberias mosaic, [[Israel]].]]

The sun god was depicted in mosaics in three places of the Land of Israel; at the synagogues of [[Hammat Tiberias]], [[Beth Alpha]] and [[Naaran]]. In the mosaic of the Hammat Tiberias, Helios is wrapped in a partially gilded tunic fastened with a fibula and sporting a seven-rayed halo<ref name=":steiny"/> with his right hand uplifted, while his left holds a globe and a whip; his chariot is drawn as a frontal box with two large wheels pulled by four horses.<ref name=":hak">Ḥaḵlîlî, pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jxk0v1rWL1EC&pg=PA195 195-196]</ref> At the Beth Alpha synagogue, Helios is at the centre of the circle of the zodiac mosaic, together with the [[Torah shrine]] between ''[[menorahs]]'', other ritual objects, and a pair of [[lions]], while the [[Horae|Seasons]] are in spandrels. The frontal head of Helios emerges from the chariot box, with two wheels in side view beneath, and the four heads of the horses, likewise frontal, surmounting an array of legs.<ref>Dunbabin, pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=U7Uu_Dq8oY4C&pg=PA191 191-192]</ref><ref name=":steiny"/> In the synagogue of Naaran, the god is dressed in a white tunic embellished with gemstones on the upper body; over the tunic is a ''[[paludamentum]]'' pinned with a fibula or bulla and decorated with a star motif, as he holds in his hand a scarf, the distinctive symbol of a ruler from the fourth century onward, and much like all other mosaics he's seated in his four-horse chariot. Temporary writings record "the sun has three letters of [God's] name written at its heart and the angels lead it" and "[t]he sun is riding on a chariot and rises decorated like a bridegroom".<ref name=":steiny"/> Both at Naaran and Beth Alpha the image of the sun is presented in a bust in frontal position, and a crown with nimbus and rays on his head.<ref name=":hak"/> Helios at both Hammath Tiberias and Beth Alpha is depicted with seven rays emanating from his head, it has been argued that those two are significantly different; the Helios of Hammath Tiberias possesses all the attributes of Sol Invictus and thus the Roman emperors, those being the rayed crown, the raised right hand and the globe, all common Helios-Sol iconography of the late third and early fourth centuries AD.<ref name=":kraem"/>

Helios and Selene were also personified in the mosaic of the Monastery of Lady Mary at [[Beit She'an]].<ref name=":hak"/> Here he is not shown as Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun, but rather as a celestial body, his red hair symbolizing the sun.<ref name=":steiny"/>

The poplar tree was considered sacred to Helios, due to the sun-like brilliance its shining leaves have.<ref>Decharme, pp [https://books.google.com/books?id=nU9msl7p2vMC&pg=PA240 240–241]</ref> A sacred poplar in an epigram written by [[Antipater of Thessalonica]] warns the reader not to harm her because Helios cares for her.{{sfn|Hunt|2016|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=JRviDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA234 234]}}

[[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]] wrote that the [[wolf]] is a beloved animal to Helios;<ref>[[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], ''On Animals'' [http://www.attalus.org/translate/animals10.html#26 10.26]</ref> the wolf is also Apollo's sacred animal, and the god was often known as [[Lyceus|Apollo Lyceus]], "wolf Apollo".<ref>Stoneman, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=EbkXQPaPqp8C&pg=PA28 28]</ref>