Untitled

Nile Festival mosaic, with the addition of the
inscriptions and themes of the other mosaics in the
building, the Nilotic scene ‘was chosen because
of the fertility, abundance, and prosperity, the
exotic appeal of the theme, and the decorative
value of the composition’. The depictions at Sepphoris,
though originating in Classical art, were
integrated as a decoration into secular Early Byzantine
art with no religious significance.
The Nilotic motif was perhaps chosen by
patrons in connection with the Nile festival, which
might still have been celebrated in the Byzantine
period (Hamarneh 1999: 189), or with various
water festivities, which promise fertility and a
plentiful harvest. Weiss and Talgam (2002: 71,
n. 64) describe at Sepphoris the drainage system
that existed in the Nile Festival room and ‘hints
at the possibility that water was poured on the
celebrants or on the floors of both halls during
festivities’. Some hold that Leontis’s choice of
the Nilotic subject for the mosaic pavement of
his Beth She"an house was inspired by his connection
to Egypt and the maritime trade (Zori
1973: 238; Isgar and Poulsen 1997: 28); or the
mosaic might reflect an association with water, as
indicated by the many water installations at the
site (Adler 2003: 78, 125-128). The choice of the
Nilotic mosaic theme at Tabgha could be connected
to the site’s proximity to the Sea of Galilee.
But some scholars, for example, Maguire (1987:
50-51, 81-84), ascribe allegorical and symbolic
meanings to such pavements.
To sum up, the Nilotic scenes depicted on the
mosaic pavements demonstrate they incorporate
all or some of the elements: the personification of
the Nile appears only in secular buildings seldom
in churches or synagogues probably as a measure
of caution (Maguire 1999: 182-3). The Nilometer,
a towered building or a walled city with or
without its Greek inscribed name, a crocodile, or
animal combat of a buffalo (or cow) attacked by a
crocodile, a sailing boat with men and wine-jars,
nilombos water plants, birds and fishes are all integral
part of the Nilotica illustrations. The Nilotic
theme on the Sepphoris mosaic is representing
iconographic elements of nilotic scenes 109
the entire scene adding to all the elements the
portrayal of the Nilus consort Egypt surrounded
by Nilotic flora and fauna, the celebration of the
flood is represented by horsemen, one male and
Semasia the lead rider, announcing the news to the
city of Alexandria that the flood has reached the
mark. The other Nilotic scenes are represented in
a stylized, condensed version of the theme.
The Nilotic episodes rendered on these Byzantine
mosaics are not meant to illustrate simply the
landscape of Egypt, but reflect the Nile landscape
as presented and expressed by the artists of the
Hellenistic-Roman periods; the scheme is again
chosen and represented by the Byzantine artists in
their own style. Nilotica is a general manifestation
of mosaic pavement art in Israel in the Byzantine
period. It appears in various parts of the country,
in different kinds of buildings—pagan, Jewish,
and Christian, sometimes occupying a complete
floor or only part of a pavement.
The Nilotic mosaics have elements in common,
reflecting a limited traditional repertoire used
repeatedly. It portrays life on the Nile and its
surroundings, as well as aspects connected to
the inundation of the Nile, which illustrates the
water’s fertilizing force as well as connection with
water. It is difficult therefore to attribute any specific
religious meaning or function to the Byzantine
mosaics.
It seems likely that the themes and motifs in
these Nilotic mosaic pavements, which were popular
and used mainly for decoration, were taken
from pattern books from which the artists or the
clients could choose either the full Nilotic scheme
or isolated motifs without relating any symbolic
meaning to them and perhaps interpreting them
as genre scenes.
Although the pavements described include all
or some of the Nilotic elements they are each
executed in a completely dissimilar manner and
with various differences in the details. Thus, they
could most likely be the result of common models
books, which were utilized by various artists who
executed each of these pavements and served a
mixed clientele.