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78
towards him; under them is an eagle with a bulla
on its neck. Beside and beneath the cithara are
a bird on a tree, an owl, and a mouse (Rosen
1984). Below the Orpheus scene is a portrayal of
a centaur and Pan, who are Dionysos’s companions;
the centaur is rendered on the left with a
look of astonishment. His right hand touches his
face, his left, with a bird or an animal pelt on the
arm, holds (or drops ?) a cornucopia. Pan, on the
right, holds out his right hand and holds a syrinx
under his left arm. between the centaur and Pan is
a rabbit. Most of the creatures are local animals.
Small plants fill the whole space.
The Orpheus panel is surrounded by an inner
frame of stylized flowers and by an wide outer
frame with an inhabited acanthus scrolls containing
animals and fruits and four heads, two bearded
and two female (?) in the corners (the winds or seasons);
in the centre of the lower acanthus border
a jewelled woman holds a cornucopia.
The middle mosaic register below the Orpheus
mosaic (pl. IV.5b) consists of three panels. Two are
blank; the central one shows two nimbed female
figures with identifying Greek names, Theodosia
and Georgia, flanking a column or candlestick;
Theodosia holds a handkerchief, Georgia a bird
(pl. XI.3b). The lower register forms two squares
and two circles of medallions showing hunting
episodes. Two naked hunters occupy the corner
medallions and the hunted lion and leopard the
central medallions.
In its characteristics the large figure of the
Jerusalem Orpheus accords with most Orpheus
representations. The animals are those regularly
represented surrounding Orpheus, although the
arrangement differs from most mosaic depictions.
Exceptional is the eagle with a bulla in an
Orpheus scene though it appears also in an inhabited
scrolls medallion (pl. VI-14d). The fight of
the serpent and the mongoose sometimes appears
in an Orpheus scene (see also Sakiet and Thina
Orpheus mosaics: Jesnick 1997: 65, 81, fig. 154);
this scene is a frequent Nilotic motif (Balty 1976)
as well as appearing in a medallion of the inhabited
vine scroll at the Church of Be"er Shema
(Gazit and Lender 1993: pl. XXIb) and on mosaics
at Qabr Hiram and Zaharani (pl. VII.6).
9 Ovadiah and Mucznik (1981: 164-166) propose that
the Orpheus mosaic in the first stage (late 4th or early 5th
century) belonged to a local pagan family, while in the
chapter four
The figures of the centaur and Pan on the
Jeru salem mosaic, constituting the main element
in the design, are rare; they are seldom
depicted among the animals in an Orpheus scene.
However, they do appear on a 5th-6th-century
ivory pyxis from the San Columbano monastry
at Bobbio and the Abbey of St. Julien Brioude
(fig. XII-16) (Volbach 1952: no. 91, pl. 28; 1961:
28, no. 84, pl. 84; Jesnick 1997: 84-5, figs. 11,
14). The centaur and Pan might have suited the
notion of wild animals and creatures fascinated by
Orpheus’s music, thereby becoming tamed and
under control, which is the centre of the Orpheus
representation.
From the 4th century Orpheus taming the animals
almost disappeared in western art, being
transformed into a Christian Good Shepherd
tending his flock (Barash 1980: 12, 14-15). The
Jerusalem Orpheus is considered a Christian
image 9 and is the latest known representation of
the Orpheus scene in Byzantine art in the East.
David with Goliath’s Weapons at the Meroth
Synagogue
In the Galilean synagogue of Meroth remains of
a mosaic floor were found at the northern edge
of the eastern aisle (Ilan and Damati 1984-85;
1985; 1987: 53-58; Talgam 1987: 149-152; Ilan
1989: 24-26). The fragment of the mosaic floor
is dated by the excavators to the 5th century CE
(Ilan and Damati 1985: 51). The mosaic depicts
the figure of a young man, probably crowned,
wearing a short white tunic with a red cloak over
his left shoulder, fastened by a fibula (pl. IV-6;
fig. IV-15). On the garb of the figure’s right arm
and hip are symbolic emblems in the form of discround
designs, which appear frequently on garments
of soldiers and high-ranking individuals on
Byzantine mosaics (Ilan and Damati 1985: 52 and
fig 3). A similar emblem appears on the right arm
of Orpheus from Saragossa (Jesnick 1997: fig. 23f).
The figure’s eyes seem to have been destroyed
(purposely?). Weapons surround the figure: an
oval shield on which he leans, a helmet and a
long sword in its sheath with an attached sling.
On the corner of the mosaic along the frame (on
the left side) beside the weapons is an inscription:
second stage (second half of the 5th century) the mosaic
was embraced by the Christians.