Untitled

Figure VI-15. Sede Nahum mosaic fragment.
figures (Table VII-2); the vine arises from a vase,
an acanthus leaf, or a tree, flanked by a pair of
peacocks; none of these mosaics has a central axial
column containing objects, nor are the side columns
symmetrical in content.
The nave mosaic at the church of the Deacon
Thomas, #Uyun Musa, Mt. Nebo, dated to first
half of the 6th century, is decorated with inhabited
vine scrolls, issuing out of a central amphora
flanked by a pair of leopards (Piccirillo 1993: 187,
figs. 263, 269). They form three columns of eight
rows inhabited by animals and scenes of vintage,
hunting, and pastoral life (pl. VI-10; Tab. VI-2),
similar in some scenes to the Suwayfiyah mosaic.
A border of acanthus scrolls filled with birds, a
cage, baskets, and fruit surrounds the carpet.
The hall mosaic of the lower chapel of the
Priest John at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat, Mount
Nebo, dated to the second half of the 5th or early
6th century, consists of two inhabited scroll mosaics
(Bagatti 1949: 38, 49-55, fig. 4; Piccirillo 1993:
176, figs. 234, 240, 241; 1998: 312). The carpet
of the lower chapel has inhabited vine scrolls in
three columns and four rows (Tab. VI-2). The
vine trellis rises from an amphora in the centre
at the bottom of the carpet, flanked by two rampant
lionesses. Vintage scenes fill some of the
medallions, including a figure leading a donkey
laden with grapes (pl. VII.2d); other scrolls depict
animals. A pair of horned stags flank the Greek
inscription seen at the centre of the highest scroll.
Another small chapel to the east has only five
scrolls in two rows (Piccirillo 1993: 176, fig. 237;
1998: 311, fig. 94). The vine scrolls issue from
the ‘inhabited scrolls’ mosaic pavements 131
a vase in the bottom row, flanked by a pair of
rams, and the other three scrolls are inhabited
by a fleeing hare, a bird, and a beast.
The lower mosaic of the Kaianus church,
#Uyun Musa, Mount Nebo (Piccirillo 1993: 189,
figs. 271, 274,275; 1998: 314-316), has a small
mosaic panel in the western part of the nave
consisting of four medallions with vintage scenes
and animal combat, similar to what is seen on
the mosaic of the lower chapel of the Priest John
(Tab. VI-2). Both mosaic were possibly the work
of the same team of mosaicists in the second half
of the 5th or early 6th century (Piccirillo 1989:
335; 1998: 318).
The 6th-century mosaic of the chapel of
Suwayfiyah on the outskirts of ancient Philadelphia
(Piccirillo 1993: 264, figs. 469-471) has the
inhabited scroll design with three columns and
six rows of vine scrolls, issuing from the central
amphora, flanked by lions (Tab. VI-2). A bird of
prey is in the uppermost central medallion; the
other medallions are filled with animals and birds,
as well as scenes containing human figures such
as a youth leading a donkey, a shepherd leaning
on his staff, and a bearded figure leading a camel
(pls. VII.2h, VII.16h, VII.18d).
The inhabited vine scrolls mosaic on the floor
of the church of Elias, Maria, and Soreg at Gerasa
(Piccirillo 1993: 296, fig. 572) is divided into a
symmetrical composition of two equal sections
by a tall palm tree, flanked by a pair of peacocks
(fig. VI-15). Their posture is similar to the flanking
peacocks on the ‘Armenian’ church pavement
in Jerusalem.
The church of St. George, Khirbat al-
Mukhayyat in the village of Nebo (Saller and
Bagatti 1949: 67, 74; fig. 8, pl. 28,3; Piccirillo
1993: 178, fig. 246; 1998: 321-322) shows a similar
inhabited scrolls composition on the small
panel of the north aisle mosaic next to the north
entrance. Of the six scrolls, the central one portrays
a palm tree growing out of a vase, flanked
by two peacocks; the other scrolls show a young
man in an orans posture (John, son of Amonnius,
a benefactor of the church) and a vintager
cutting grapes. A lion and a bull face each other
outside the scrolls.
The nave mosaic in the 8th-century church
of St. Stephen at Umm al-Rasas (Piccirillo 1993:
238-9, figs. 345, 380, 383) is decorated with an
inhabited vine scrolls design with four columns
and eleven rows; the figures were partly destroyed
by iconoclasts. The vine trellis issues out of an