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The forerunners for these vintage scenes are
probably in villa mosaics of North Africa in the
Roman period. Those scenes might have had some
symbolism as many of the North African mosaics
are connected with the Dionysian repertoire of
scenes of wine and drunkenness (Merrony 1998:
449, 470-1). Vintage scenes on 3rd-century floor
mosaics are known from Cherchel at El Djem
(Dunbabin 1978: 115-6, pls. 105, 107-8) as well
as on the vault of the church of Sta. Costanza in
Rome (Oakeshott 1967: pl. 38).
These vintage motifs are almost exclusively
depicted in vine scroll medallions of inhabited
scroll field and border mosaics (see Table VI-1).
Similar scenes appear in inhabited acanthus scroll
medallions on Arabian mosaic pavement fields:
in the upper chapel of the Priest John and in
the church of St. George at Mukhayyat on Mt.
Nebo as well as on the inhabited acanthus scroll
mosaic border of the church of Bishop Sergius
at Umm al-Rasas.
Scholars argue for a religious symbolism of
the vine in early Byzantine mosaics in churches
and synagogues based on some biblical verses:
Isaiah 5: 1-7, Psalms 80: 8-16, and Hosea 10:
1 (see Chap. VI, p. 144; Piccirillo 1993: 174,
178, figs. 224,229-230, 244). However, a different
explanation for the abundant choice of vintage
scenes on 6th-century mosaic pavements in
Palaestina and Arabia is possibly due to wine production
and commerce, one of the main activities
of the period (Merrony 1998: 472-3). A large
number of wine installations and presses were
discovered in Israel of the Early Byzantine period,
and similar ones were found in the vicinity of Mt.
Nebo (Saller 1941: fig. 2). The Byzantine wine
press features vats for the storage of the grapes
before treading and an installation containing a
treading floor paved with white tesserae, paved
basins connected by a narrow pipe, and a screwpress.
The fixed screw-press was constructed from
an upright pole with carved screw ridges and fixed
into a heavy stone block; pressing was ‘by rotation
of the wooden nut screwed onto the upper
end of the beam’ (Hirshfeld 1983: 211-5, figs. 5,
7; Frankel 1997; see also Brun and Eitam 1993).
The same screw-presses are depicted on several
mosaic pavements discussed above. These wine
installations attest to robust wine production and
trade in the Byzantine period, which is reflected
on the mosaic pavements probably without indicating
any symbolic meaning.
iconographic aspects of rural life 155
B. Chase, Combat, and Hunting Scenes
Hunting scenes depicted on the mosaic pavements
could typically be divided into three basic
themes: (1) animal chase and combat; wild beast
combat and assault on animal prey; (2) human
and animal battle and hunt; (3) transportation
of big-game animals for public display. Almost
all scenes are organized in confronting pairs of
animals or hunter and beast (see also Merrony
1998: 452-456, 462, 465-466, 474-475).
Combat and hunting scenes appear in three
mosaic categories: in medallions of inhabited
vine or acanthus scroll mosaic fields; in medallions
of inhabited vine or acanthus scroll mosaic
borders; on general mosaic fields on the panels
of the mosaic pavement on the aisle at Kissufim,
the Nile Festival Building, Room 6 mosaic at Sepphoris,
and the Old Diakonikon on Mt. Nebo
which depict animal combat and hunting scenes
in different compositions.
Animal Chase and Combat
The animal chase theme usually consists of pairs
of animals in which one is chasing another.
This type of motif appears both in religious as
well as in secular structures. The animal chase
contains several recurring themes: beasts chasing
animals, hare hunt by a hound, snake and
mongoose combat, wild beasts assault their prey
(Table VII-2).
Animal chase and not combat is common
in medallions of the inhabited scrolls, perhaps
because usually each animal was depicted in a
separate medallion. Several animal chase scenes
appear in the medallions of the inhabited scroll
mosaics (pls. VII.5-6,8): the Gaza synagogue
pavement shows the only depictions of a pair of
animals attacking their prey: two foxes attack a
deer in row 7; a pair of leopards attack a gazelle
in row 9; a tigress leaps towards a donkey in row
3 (pl. VII.5a). A bear chases two female ibexes
on the el-Hammam rinceau mosaic (fig. VI-14)
in three separate medallions in row 5 (Avi-Yonah
1936: 14, pl. XIV). A panther pursuing a deer
on the left, and a wolf pursuing an ibex on the
right, flank a shepherd in the axial column medallion
in row 8 on the Be"er Shem#a church mosaic
(pl. VII.5b). A lion chasing a gazelle and an ibex
(pl. VII.5c), a lioness and her cub in a posture of
attack, and a bear chasing a horse (pl. VII.10a)
are depicted on the Diakonikon mosaic field in