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iconographic aspects of rural life 167
Figure VII-7. The Megalopsychia Hunt, Yakto Complex, Antioch.
rendered in a medallion whereas her cub is near
her but outside the medallion. A leopardess with
her cub suckling appears in an inhabited acanthus
scroll of a church upper room border mosaic in
Tiberias (Area B, next to the Byzantine city wall
on Mt. Berenice, dated to the late 6th century:
Ben Arieh 1995: 37, fig. 44, pl. III; Amir 2004:
141-148, fig. 8.18; colour pls. I: 2).
Several comparable animal combats and game
hunting scenes appear on Syrian villa mosaics:
the Megalopsychia Hunt in the Yakto Complex
(450-469), the Worcester Hunt (late 5th or early
6th century) at Antioch, and the Triclinos Hunt
mosaic at Apamea (mid-5th or early 6th century;
now at the Musées royaux d’art at d’histoire in
Brussels). These have completely different compositions
(Levi 1947: 323-345, 363-365; II, pls.
75-80, 86b, 90, 136, 151, 170-173,176b-167;
Lavin 1963: 189-191; 270-271, figs. 2, 6, 139;
Dunbabin 1999: 180-184, figs. 194, 196).
The Megalopsychia Hunt field is divided by
four trees, placed diagonally in the corners, into
separate scenes of hunting; these and a central
medallion portraying the bust of Megalopsychia—
generously handing out gold pieces—yield the
overall design. Six hunters bearing mythological