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and a little child shall lead them’ (Isaiah 11: 6).
The two fragmentary mosaics at Anemurium
and Korykos are quite similar in their depictions
and cite the same verse from Isaiah.
The only example of this theme in the west
appears in the mosaic fragment of the Mariana
church in Corsica, probably dating to the late 5th
century (Moracchini-Mazel 1967; Russell 1987:
72, and n. 200) portraying an ox and a manger
of straw accompanied by the early Latin inscription
[et leo quasi bos p]aleas manduc[abunt]’,[And the
lion will eat ]straw like the [ox’ (Isaiah 11: 7; 65:
25), similar to the mosaic remains and inscription
at Ma‘in.
In all the above examples the accompanying
Isaiah text is not accurately cited but is freely
arranged so as to fit the depictions. The text has
a distinct explanatory purpose, so the appropriate
clause is placed above each particular pair.
To this group of mosaics rendering the Peaceful
Kingdom Russell (1987: 73 and n. 204) adds
the Cilician churches of Ayas and Dag Pazari
which portray pairs of animals. They lack the biblical
inscriptions, and the animals are differently
arranged, but they might still belong to the same
theme. Perhaps the lion and bull facing each other
on the Martyr church at Beth She"an (pl. IX.2a)
might be part of the same theme.
Campbell (1995: 129-133) argues that the
explanation for the use of the iconography of the
Peaceful Kingdom on these mosaics (as suggested
for the Karlik and Mariana mosaics: Gough 1978:
419) is too general hence not entirely adequate,
though the emphasis on peace would be suitable
for a time of controversy in an attempt to reconcile
the ecclesiastical/political events in the east.
Instead Campbell maintains that a simple elucidation
for these illustrations could be a reference to
the rite of baptism; this was highly important to
4th-5th-century theologians and it was also appropriate
to decorate church pavements by this symbolic
means. Campbell (1995: 134) dates all these
mosaics to the 5th-6th century over a period of
some 50-70 years. She concludes, ‘we see a literal
depiction of three biblical verses designed from
readily available visual sources… and reveal…
something about the liturgy which was being practiced
in these functioning churches’.
Dunbabin (1978: 230-31) suggests that the
rows of animals rendered in the scene of Noah’s
Ark on the Misis mosaic also follow a favourite
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theme in Christian churches of bands of animals
moving peacefully. They too are interpreted as
the Animal Paradise, the peaceful assembly of
animals described by Isaiah.
Scenes with a symbolic conception rather that
a narrative theme, and accompanied by other
biblical verses, are found on Jordanian mosaic
pavements at Mount Nebo. The western panel
of the nave of the Church of the Holy Martyrs
Lot and Procopius at Mukhayyat on Mount Nebo
(Saller and Bagatti 1949: 62; Piccirillo 1993:
164-5, fig. 213) shows two bulls flanking an altar
(pl. IX.3). Like all other such scenes, it has an
accompanying biblical verse in Greek: ‘Then
they shall lay calves upon thy altar’ (Psalms 51:
21).
The sanctuary mosaic of the Theotokos
Chapel, dated to the early 7th century (Piccirillo
1993: 151, fig. 200), has a comparable scene on a
rectangular panel in front of the altar decorated
with a heraldic composition of two bulls flanking
a temple/sanctuary image, themselves flanked by
two gazelles and two flower clusters. Iconoclasts
damaged the animals except for the gazelle at the
northern end (pl. II.3b). Above the scene appears
an inscription from Psalms 51: 21, in Greek:
‘Then they shall lay calves upon thy altar’. As
noted, this concluding verse of the psalm, which
contains a prayer for the future of rebuilding the
walls of Jerusalem and renewal of the sacrifical
rites, accompanies the depictions of these mosaics.
The flanking animals are symbolic of this hope.
Apart from this verse, the symbolic scenes with
flanking animals use only verses from Isaiah 11:
6-8; 65: 25, which describe future visions of messianic
peace.
Talgam (2000: 107-109) indicates similarities
between the portrayals of the eschatological biblical
verses relating to the End of Days in the
above Christian examples and certain synagogue
mosaics designs, such as the depiction of rams at
Susiya and the offering of sacrifices in the Jerusalem
Temple at Sepphoris.
By the mid-6th and early 7th century, narrative
figural scenes were doubtless no longer
feasible for Jews or Christians (at Meroth and
Ma‘in) and were replaced by a more conceptual
rendition. This is implied by the mosaics presenting
a common pattern of flanking or confronting
animals, but with accompanying biblical verses
providing them with symbolic meaning.