Untitled

Group III consists of the mosaics executed in small,
rectangular rooms (figs. VI-10-12; Hachlili 1987:
46, 49, 53):
Attached to the House of Leontis, the small
synagogue mosaic pavement of Beth She"an (B)
is a variation of the inhabited scroll composition
(Bahat 1981). It has a wide, ornate border and
a central panel consisting of nine medallions,
three columns, and three rows (figs. VI-10,12).
The vine-trellis issues from an amphora in the
centre of the first row, flanked by a pair of rams or
goats. A menorah occupies the central medallion,
flanked by an ethrog and a suspended lamp or
incense burner, the word םולש (shalom) is inscribed
above (pl. XI.1). A peacock, en face, fills the upper
central medallion. Two medallions are lost so it
is impossible to determine whether the inhabited
scrolls had identical animals (as suggested
by Bahat 1981), or whether each medallion contained
a different animal, like the Beth Guvrin
church floor. The round medallions all end in
a vine leaf, similar in other details to the Beth
She"an workshop (see Chap. XII, pp. 254-264).
The border design is four corner amphorae
with vines emerging from them, and intertwining
animal chase scenes. Among the depicted
animals are bear, fox, hare, dog, deer, hen, and
elephant. A fox chases a hare, and a bear chases
a deer. Birds fill the space around and outside the
menorah medallion. In the centre of the upper
part of this border is a dedicatory inscription in
a tabula ansata.
The small chapel at el-Maqerqesh, Beth
Guvrin, belongs to the period of group III, dated
to the 6th century (figs. VI-11,12) (Avi-Yonah
1993, I: 197; Hachlili 1987: 46, 49,51,53). The
inhabited scroll mosaic consists of nine medallions,
three columns and three rows. The vinetrellis
rises from an amphora in the centre of the
first row, flanked by a pair of rams. The other
medallions contain an assortment of birds. The
central medallion of the mosaic contains a bird
of prey (pl. VI.12d), flanked by a partridge and
a quail; in the third row a pheasant is flanked by
a crane and a goose.
Somewhat comparable to the Beth Guvrin
mosaic is the small lower chapel to the east of
Priest John, Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Mount Nebo
(Piccirillo 1993: 176, figs. 234, 237) with only five
2 In the Jerusalem area three examples of group II
and III mosaics—the Jerusalem ‘Armenian’ mosaic,
the ‘inhabited scrolls’ mosaic pavements 125
medallions emerging from an amphora flanked by
two sheep. The other three scrolls are inhabited
by animals and a bird.
The mosaic floor of the kitchen at St. Martyrius
monastery at Ma#ale "Adummim (Khirbet
el-Murassas) dated to the third quarter of the 6th
century is decorated with an inhabited vine scroll
design (Magen and Talgam 1990: 131, 146, 148,
150, fig. 51; Magen 1993: 184, pl. XIA). The vinetrellis
issuing from an amphora in the centre of the
first row is flanked by two medallions, each filled
with a bunch of grapes; the second row shows a
bird in the central medallion, again flanked by
two medallions, each with a bunch of grapes; the
third row has three medallions, all filled with a
bunch of grapes.
Characteristic features of group III:
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•
•
•
The mosaic pavements are designed as a
nine-scroll composition, three columns and
three rows, with an amphora in the central
medallion of the bottom row at the base of
the motif, flanked by two rams or goats.
This group of mosaics focuses attention on
the centre of the composition by special
representations placed within the central
medallion, a seven-armed menorah at Beth
She"an, the bird of prey at el-Maqerqesh,
Beth Guvrin. At Ma#ale "Adummim (Khirbet
el-Murassas) the central medallion contains
a bird while all the other medallions
contain bunches of grapes.
The contents of the scrolls at el-Maqerqesh,
Beth Guvrin are not symmetrical. Two
medallions of the Beth She"an mosaic are
lost, but presumably each scroll contained
a different animal as on the Beth Guvrin
pavement.
The animals fit within the encircling medal-
lions except for the two goats at el-Maqerqesh,
Beth Guvrin. 2
The assessment of the details of the pavements
in groups I-III demonstrates a chronological and
stylistic development of the specific composition
of inhabited vine scrolls which is characteristic to
pavements in Palaestina.
Several pavements with variation of the inhabited
vine scrolls design comparable to groups II
and III are found in Syria, all dated to the 6th
el-Maqerqesh, Beth Guvrin and the kitchen at Maale
Edomim, the medallions are inhabited only with birds.