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alternating rows of animals and birds in all the
columns and no objects (Waliszewski 1994).
The nave of the Eastern Church at Herodium
is decorated with inhabited vine scrolls of which
only three rows of three columns have survived
(Netzer et al. 1993: 225-224, pl. XVId). The first
row has an acanthus leaf flanked perhaps by peacocks,
destroyed and restored as a leaf. In the
second row, on the left a lion survived flanking
an eagle in the centre; in the third row bird’s legs
survived in the central medallion.
At the Horvat Sokho mosaic only three rows
of three columns survived. The amphora at the
bottom was flanked by a pair of horses or mules,
a bird is flanked by baskets in the row 2 and possibly
two camels in the side medallions of the third
row (Gudovitch 1996).
The group’s common characteristics are:
• The mosaics composition of #Asida, Gaza,
Hazor-Ashdod, Herodium and Horvat
Sokho contain three columns.
• At #Asida and Hazor-Ashdod, in the bottom
•
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Figure VI-3. Group I: #Asida church nave mosaic pavement.
row at the base of the motif an amphora is
depicted in the central medallion, flanked
by lions; at Horvat Sokho the flanking animals
might be horses or mules. At Gaza
the bottom row is missing.
The axial column is not inhabited with
objects.
•
•
•
No human figures inhabit the mosaics.
The animals and birds in the rows often
have connected themes such as confronting
animals and a chase at Gaza and Hazor-
Ashdod.
The bird-in-cage is portrayed in the central
column at #Asida and Gaza. The rows of
medallions at Gaza and #Asida are inhabited
by alternating birds and beasts. At
Hazor-Ashdod, the surviving medallions
show only animals, with just a pair of cranes
in the top row; other birds are presented
outside the medallions around the two
central medallions (of rows 1 and 2). The
animals at Gaza and Hazor-Ashdod are
outside the medallion borders.
The distinctive features characteristic of this group
of inhabited vine scroll designs appear mainly
at the Gaza synagogue, which survived almost
completely, while few parts of the other mosaics
are in evidence; however, it is apparent that
the mosaic composition is not as rigid as group
II (see below). The animals are depicted in connection
with each other in each row, usually in
some action like pursuit; the axial central column
is without objects, except for the bird-in-cage. The
animal and bird images in the scrolls are lively and