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The depiction of a putto riding a crocodile, and
another crocodile with a fish in its mouth, appears
in the Nilotic scene on the border mosaic at Sarrîn
(Balty 1990: pl. XXXII, 2, general plan).
A crocodile is depicted in the waves of the river
in the Nilotic scene at the nave mosaic of Zay al-
Gharby (Piccirillo 1993: 324, fig 677). A crocodile
is portrayed on the bottom of the Nilotic mosaic
panel, and another is on the mosaic border of
the late 5th- or early 6th-century mosaic at Jiyé
(Ortali-Tarazi and Waliszewski 2000: fig. 3). A
crocodile with a duck standing on its back appears
on the nave mosaic pavement of the East Church
at Qasr-el-Lebia, and is considered part of Nilotic
repertoire (Alföldi-Rosenbaum & Ward-Perkins
1980: 124-126, Fig.10, panel D5; Maguire 1987:
45).
For the Romans the crocodile seems to have
been symbolic of Egypt, and it is often portrayed
so as to highlight the animal’s savage nature. 6
For the Christians of the Justinian age the crocodile
possibly came symbolize the powers of evil
(Alföldi- Rosenbaum 1975: 152; Alföldi-Rosenbaum
& Ward-Perkins 1980: 51).
Sailing Boats
A sailing boat is portrayed at Beth She"an and
Haditha (pl. V.7). On the Beth She"an mosaic
the boat, with a small sail, is laden with three
wine vessels, and a man standing close to the
mast holds the sail’s rope. The boat at Haditha
is loaded with wine-jars, and two naked figures
(putti, pygmies?) are seated in it, one holding the
oars. Similar to the Haditha boat is the sailing
boat with two figures, one a fisherman holding
a fishhook with a caught fish (pl. VII.20a), portrayed
in a round medallion on the mosaic of
the north aisle at Beth Loya (Patrich and Tsafrir
1993: 269, pl. XIXb).
The boat and figures fishing are frequently portrayed
as part of a Nilotic scene (Alföldi-Rosenbaum
& Ward-Perkins 1980: 46). Often the boat’s
prow has a bird or animal head on it (see Friedman
1999 for ships on mosaics). Two sailboats,
one with two figures, destroyed, are depicted
in the Nile’s waves on the nave mosaic of Zay
al-Gharby (Piccirillo 1993: 324, figs. 660, 676).
Ships with fishing putti, naked, with caps on their
6 For Whitehouse 1979: 26-30, the animal’s appearances
suggests a pttern book or zoological illustrations rather than
observation from nature; on the ritual killing of crocodile
iconographic elements of nilotic scenes 105
heads, appear in the Nilotic scenes on the border
of the 8th-century church mosaic of St. Stephen
at Umm Al-Rasas (Piccirillo 1993: figs. 345, 358).
A similar boat with a sail and three wine jars is
rendered on the mosaic pavement of the Byzantine
church in Sorân in Syria (Donceel-Voûte
1988: figs. 295, 297,298). A boat with two rowing
figures is portrayed on the mosaic panel at Jiyé
(Ortali-Tarazi and Waliszewski 2000: fig. 3).
The boat carrying wine in the mosaic portrayals
may reflect two traditions, one of Egypt as a
wine producing area and the other of the Nile as
a kind of highway, the river being Egypt’s main
transport route (Whitehouse 1979: 50-52). Versluys
(2002: 280) surmises that the boat was perhaps
filled with offerings to the River Nile, made
at the peak of the flood.
Water Plants, Fishes, and Birds
Nilotic water plants such as lotus, papyrus, and
oleander fill the space in a similar manner in all
the pavements and represent and distinguish the
Nilotic landscape (pl. V.8). The lotus is featured
with an erect stem, circular bell-like leaves, and
cup-like flowers, and is the most distinctive plant
in these scenes; it appears not as the Egyptian
lotus but as the sacred lotus of Buddhism, introduced
into Egypt from India probably during
the Persian period (Whitehouse 1979: 9-22). The
lotuses depicted at Tabgha (fig. V-2) have shapes
different from the actual plants, and may be confused
with papyrus plants. They probably derive,
though not directly, from illustrated botanical
manuscripts (Schneider 1937: 59-60; Whitehouse
1979: 20-21). The oleander appears in Sepphoris
and Tabgha similarly (figs. V-2, pl. V.3). At Sepphoris
the lotus is in the main stream, seemingly
to symbolize the Nile, while the oleander is scattered
all over the mosaic and might represent the
river valley and banks.
Fishes
A number of fishes are depicted swimming in
the Nile streams on the Haditha and Sepphoris
pavements (pls. V.2,3,8). In the House of Leontis
at Beth She"an (pl. V-1) one fish swims in the
Nile stream in the lower left corner. Fishes are
and hippopotamus see Meyboom (1995: 325-6, notes 169,
170).