Untitled

Jonah
biblical narrative themes and images: representation, origin, and meaning 91
Figure IV-24. Jonah depicted at the church of Mahat el-Urdi mosaic, Beth Guvrin.
Biblical depictions, although common in Jewish
art on synagogue mosaic pavements, are rare in
early Christian art on church floors, probably
owing to a legal sanction decreed by Theodosius
in 427 prohibiting the depiction of crosses or figurative
themes on that place (Cod. Just. 1, 8, 1). The
only exceptions known to date in the area are the
episodes of Adam in Paradise ruling the animals
on the mosaic of the late 5th-century Haouarte
church in Syria (see above) and of the Jonah cycle
on a mosaic pavement of the Byzantine church
Mahat el-Urdi at Beth Guvrin (5th-6th century:
Baramki 1972; Ovadiah R. 1974; Foerster 1978).
The Mahat el-Urdi church consists of a nave decorated
with opus sectile, and mosaic pavements
in the north and south aisles with a geometric
design; these were damaged by iconoclasts. The
north aisle has a design of octagons in the centre,
squares and hexagons around it filled with peacocks,
fish, animals, birds, figures, and geometric
patterns. One octagon (the third in the row)
(fig. IV-24a) shows a dressed figure reclining on
his left arm under a gourd. The Greek inscription
ΙWΝΑC identifies him as Jonah. The scene
illustrates the biblical description in Jonah 4: 6:
The Lord God ordained that a climbing gourd
should grow up above Jonah’s head to throw its
shade over him and relieve his discomfort and
he was very glad of it.
Two other medallions containing maritime scenes
might represent other parts of the Jonah story
though there is no proof and no inscription; they
could be part of the general repertoire of maritime
themes. The partly destroyed second octagon
from the top in the north aisle shows a boat at
sea with two rowing figures.
A round medallion in the south aisle (fig. IV-24b)
presents a boat with two figures who seem to be
pushing another figure—possibly Jonah—out
of the boat towards a sea monster, as described
in Jonah 1: 15,17: ‘Then they took Jonah and
threw him overboard, and the raging of the sea
subsided… The Lord ordained that a great fish
should swallow Jonah…’
A similar Jonah scene is found on a mosaic at
the Cathedral of Bishop Theodore in Aquileia
(313-319) (Grabar 1967: fig. 19), showing three
figures in a boat. The one on the right is naked
and holds an oar, the one on the left is clothed
and is rendered in orans pose; Jonah is being
thrust from the boat by the central naked figure
towards the mouth of a large sea monster. Similar
scenes appear on catacomb paintings (Grabar
1967: figs. 20, 31, 78, 100).
These two Mahat el-Urdi medallions give no
indication that they are part of the Jonah story,
but from the octagon with the identifying inscription
it may be inferred that they too show episodes
related to the Jonah cycle. It is interesting
to find the representations of the Jonah story on
a church pavement albeit carefully consigned to