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shown standing on the river bank as a measuring
column within a well. In the mosaics under
discussion the Nilometer is depicted similarly, as
a cylindrical tower-like structure with a conical
top, whose horizontal divisions are marked with
numbers and Greek letters measuring the water
height in cubits (pl. V.4).
The stylized Nilometer as a column on a base
or rising from a well is shown in the left corner of
the panel of the House of Leontis at Beth She"an;
another is partially preserved on the south transept
of the Tabgha mosaic. A more detailed rendition
appears in the centre of the scene at the
Sepphoris Nile Festival Building, where it is rendered
as a round tower mounted on a rectangular
base with a vaulted opening surrounded by many
busy putti (Weiss and Talgam 2002: 61, 67-68).
The numbers in cubits on the various Nilometers
are different: at Beth She"an they are IA to
IZ from eleven to sixteen; at Tabgha the letters
are from S to I, from six to ten; at Sepphoris
they are IE, IS, and IZ, from fifteen to seventeen,
where a putto mounted on another putto’s
back engraves the number IZ; a similar scene
appears on a 6th-century silver bowl from Perm
(fig. XII.15b) (now at the Hermitage Museum,
dated by imperial stamps to 491-518) and on a
Coptic textile (Netzer & Weiss 1992a: 38; 1992b:
77-78; Weiss and Talgam 2002: 67). The 6th-century
mosaic border pavement at Sarrîn similarly
shows a putto engraving the numbers IH and IZ
on the Nilometer (Balty 1990: pl. XXXIII, 1).
As noted above, the mosaic of Umm al-Manabi
shows the Nilometer in the centre with the marks
from ten to eighteen (Glueck 1951; Piccirillo 1993:
341). The high numbers of sixteen and seventeen
are probably a symbolic number meant to
express the optimal and successful yearly rising
of the Nile. Possibly another small Nilometer is
rendered on the north transept mosaic at Tabgha
as a structure of bricks on a stepped base without
marks (fig. V-2a). Similar unmarked Nilometers
are known from other mosaics (Whitehouse 1979:
53, M34). 3
In the mosaic at Beth She"an the location of
the Nilometer is indicated by its rendition next
to a city inscribed with the name of Alexandria
(Meyboom 1995: 293, note 61). Still, this might
imply just an element of Nilotic scenes rather
3 In the Roman period the use of portable measurement
poles for the overflow of the Nile is known (Wild
1981: 32).
iconographic elements of nilotic scenes 103
than a specific location. In earlier appearances
the Nilometer represented the popular celebration
of the inundation, but by the time it is portrayed
on the Byzantine mosaics it in all likelihood simply
symbolized the Nile (Whitehouse 1979: 54).
City Representations
The city representations on the mosaics are different
(pl. V.5). At the House of Leontis in Beth
She"an, a pillared building with a tiled roof and
a tower inscribed in Greek with the name Alexandria
is a schematic and stylized representation.
A simple-walled towered structure is depicted on
the north transept of the Tabgha floor. On the
mosaic of Sepphoris the city of Alexandria is portrayed,
consisting of two round towers flanking
a gate, and above it the inscription Alexandria in
Greek, with the Pharos attached to the right of
the tower with a flame at the top.
Two horsemen, one the leading Semasia, the
other a male, coming from a column surmounted
by a statue (possibly of Diocletian) on top of a
Corinthian capital, head for the gate to announce
the Nile celebration. These portrayals are schematic
representations of a building rather than
a city. A similar simplified type of city rendition,
consisting of two towers pierced by a gate, appears
on the Madaba Map (Avi-Yonah 1954: 22, fig. 7).
Only on the Haditha pavement, at the corner of
the border, is a walled city portrayed, with domed
towers and an arched gate; within the wall three
buildings are shown; the Greek inscription ‘Egypt’
is written below. ‘Egypt’ means Memphis in the
Hellenistic tradition. 4 Avi-Yonah (1972: 121) suggests
that the other three destroyed corners of
the Haditha mosaic border might have depicted
Alexandria, the Pharos, and Menuthis.
On mosaics of Jordan, in the church of St. John
at Gerasa a walled city is portrayed together with
two Nilotic scenes; a small church is rendered
on the Nilotic scene at Zay al-Gharby (Piccirillo
1993: 34, 324, figs. 535, 677). Walled cities as well
as the Nile flowing with seven fishes are portrayed
on the Madaba map (Avi-Yonah 1954: 21-23,25;
Piccirillo 1993: 30-34). A depiction of a walled
city, perhaps Alexandria, appears in the Nilotic
scene on the mosaic pavement border at Sarrîn
(Balty 1990: pl. XXXIII, 1).
4 But see Hermann (1962: 82) and Roussin (1985: 308-9),
who suggest that the cities inscribed ‘Egyptos’ can be interpreted
as the fortress of Babylon, now old Cairo.