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On Jordanian mosaics, in the acanthus border
of the Baptistry Chapel at Madaba a cage within a
medallion is flanked by two birds (Piccirillo 1993:
figs. 102). The two examples show a bird in the
cage with another bird outside. An empty cage
with an open door decorates the centre of the nave
of the church of St. John the Baptist at Khirbat
al-Samra (Piccirillo 1993: 304, figs. 595, 599).
In sum, the bird-in-cage, almost always in the
company of other birds and several episodes of
bird-catching, seems to indicate that it was part
of a bird repertoire or catalogue in pattern/model
books that the mosaicist used in his work.
The Bird of Prey
The bird of prey, possibly a hawk or an eagle, is
another motif which recurs in the central axial
column of the inhabited scroll pavements of
groups II and III (pl. VI. 14; figs. VI-5,7,11). The
bird of prey appears with spread wings, its head
turned left, on the ‘Armenian’ church mosaic in
Jerusalem (Evans 1982: 219, fig. 3), and at Petra
(in medallion B15: Waliszekowski 2001: 233).
At the Ma#on synagogue (Avi-Yonah 1960: 26,
pl. III,3), and at the el-Maqerqesh chapel at Beth
Guvrin the bird of prey is rendered with a ring
and a bulla round its neck, at el-Maqerqesh it is
in the central medallion of the mosaic composition
(fig. VI-11).
Similar birds occur on other inhabited scroll
mosaics: at Suwayfiyah in Arabia (Piccirillo 1993:
264, fig. 469), Jenah in Phoenicia (Chehab 1959:
pl. 98,1), the Khan Khalde pavement (Donceel-
Voûte 1988: pl. 15) and the Sabratha church
mosaic in North Africa (Ward Perkins and Goodchild
1953: pl. 26). Evans (1982: 219) proposes
that the eagle should be regarded as a symbol
of Christ freeing the bird in the cage, which she
sees, following Grabar, as symbolizing the soul
of man (see also Donceel-Votûe 1983). Maguire
(1987: 65) contends that the eagle could be an
intimation of the resurrection and of immortality,
or a symbol of the cross, the eagle being a bird
with imperial associations. However, these birds
do not seem to be emphasized in the design, so
they might have been deprived of their religious
symbolism and might rather belong to a bird repertory
or a catalogue (Hachlili 1988: 332-334).
the ‘inhabited scrolls’ mosaic pavements 141
A Double Basket
A double (joined) basket, its lower part curved,
was made out of two baskets and a wooden frame
or carrying rods, probably to fit the back of a
donkey; This object is rendered frontally on several
of the mosaics of group II in a medallion of
the central axial column (pl. VI-15): at Ma#on a
double basket filled with grapes appears in row 4
(Avi Yonah 1960: 28, pl. IV,2); a similar double
basket with carrying rods filled with fruit on which
a pair of birds are perched is in the central column
of the Shellal mosaic in row 2 (Trendall 1957:
19, fig. 4a); the double basket at Beth Loya, full
of dates and almonds (Patrich and Tsafrir 1993:
pl. XVIIId), is similar to the double basket full of
grapes seen at Be"er Shem#a in the central medallion
in row 6 (Gazit and Lender 1993: 275). On
the Petra church north aisle mosaic the double
basket is empty (B8, Waliszekowski 2001: 228).
The function of the double basket depicted frontally
is clarified by similar baskets rendered in
a side position and placed on a donkey’s back,
illustrated in some of the scenes of transporting
vine (pl. VII.2).
Baskets
Plaited and wicker baskets filled with fruit are
a common motif in the central axial column in
groups I and II (pl. VI.16): a plaited basket containing
red pomegranates, with a handle crossing
from one side to the other is depicted in the
central medallion at Ma#on (Avi Yonah 1960:
28, pl. V,2). Wicker baskets (canistra or cistae) of
fruit are rendered at Shellal (Trendall 1957: 20,
fig. 4c), on the pavement of the Be"er Shem#a
church (Gazit and Lender 1993: 275), and on the
mosaic at Beth Loya (Patrich and Tsafrir 1993:
268); two baskets appear on the Jerusalem ‘Armenian’
church mosaic (Evans 1982: fig. 3). Five
different baskets, one with a handle, are seen on
the Petra church north aisle mosaic (B2, B6, B10,
B19, B24; Waliszekowski 2001: 224,227, 229-230,
236). On mosaics of group IV and V baskets are
rendered within various medallions: three baskets
filled with fruit are depicted at el-Hammam, Beth
She"an (fig. VI-14). A basket full of grapes appears
in a medallion on the Caesarea mosaic (fig. VI-
18). In a vintage scene, a basket full of grapes
placed next to a vintager cutting a bunch of grapes
appears in a medallion (pl. VII-1a) on the mosaic
of the Beth She"an monastery, Room L.