Untitled

176
in two inhabited acanthus scroll fields and in one
border (Table VII-1). Conversely, all the typical
themes appear on Christian mosaics. None is portrayed
on synagogue pavements, except for the
hare eating grapes motif on the Beth She"an small
synagogue border. Animal chase and combat
episodes appear on mosaic pavement fields and
borders of churches, synagogues, and mansions;
many of the scenes are in medallions of inhabited
scroll pavements, for example, the Gaza-Maiumas
synagogue, the Be"er Shema and Shellal churches,
El Hammam Christian tomb chamber, and a
mosaic panel in al-Khadir church. But they are
also found on other types of carpet design such
as panels in the north aisle of Kissufim church
and on the lower part of the Nile Festival building
mosaic at Sepphoris (Table VII-2). Big game
Hunting scenes appear only on church and mansion
mosaic pavements, in medallions of inhabited
scroll carpets, and on several other pavements
such as the el-Maqerqesh border at Beth Govrin,
some of the Kissufim church panels, the mosaic
panels of al-Khadir at Madaba, and on the lower
mosaic of the Old Diakonikon Bapistery at the
Memorial of Moses on Mt. Nebo (Table VII-3).
Rural and pastoral scenes are portrayed in medallions
of the inhabited vine and acanthus scrolls,
on the south aisle pavement of the Petra church,
and primarily on church carpets.
The scenes on synagogue pavements comprise
animal chase and combat themes. Notably, synagogue
pavements contain no human figures,
which are part of farming, hunting and pastoral
themes; only biblical scenes and the zodiac design
on synagogue mosaics have human figures.
Farming is the most appropriate theme for
inhabited vine scroll mosaic designs and almost
all elements of this theme appear. Yet chase and
hunting vignettes were used in other designs also.
The mixing of themes of vintage, animal chase,
hunting, and rural life on the inhabited scrolls
shows no evident order, though some episodes of
the same subject lie in close proximity.
Scholars contend that the origin of the Byzantine
farming, hunting and pastoral scenes is in
the repertory of Classical and Hellenistic art; the
Christian mosaic ornamentation apparently borrowed
elements and was influenced by the pagan
genre and hunting repertory of North African villa
mosaics (Lavin 1963: 229-242). Scholars concur
that these scenes imitate presentations of wild
beast hunts in the Roman arena, and possibly also
chapter seven
other sources such as the Triumph of Dionysus.
Scholars debating the intention and function
of the rural themes of farming, hunting, and pasturing
on Early Byzantine mosaic pavements.
Avi-Yonah (1933: 64) asserts that the hunter on
his galloping mount in the pose of the Roman
Emperor represents the nobility of the Roman and
Byzantine empires. Levi (1947, I: 237-244) holds
that the hunting scenes originated in mythological
themes, which eventually lost this association
and acquired a symbolic value. Saller and Bagatti
(1949: 88, 94-95) suggest that the central idea of
these compositions was that ‘God was the Creator
and Preserver of all things’. They maintain that
the rural themes in the inhabited scrolls, although
with decorative purpose, were chosen for the
church ‘in order to remind the people that their
activities had a close relation to the service of God
from whom they received everything and upon
whom they were completely dependent’. Furthermore,
the images on the mosaic pavements of
Mt. Nebo represent the activities of a prosperous
agricultural community. Roussin (1985: 220-228,
255, 263-265) believes that Roman sarcophagi
themes and North African mosaics influenced the
iconography of the genre and hunting representations,
and that the scenes of hunting and leading
exotic animals reflect the use of Roman models.
She further argues (1985: 260-263) that the significance
of these themes for church decoration,
their roots in classical iconography notwithstanding,
lies in their being chosen by different patrons
as well as their mere decoration. Maguire (1987:
67-72) presents the two inhabited acanthus mosaics
at the Priest John chapel and the St. George’s
church at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (Mt. Nebo) as
examples of the hunting and pastoral themes and
maintains that this iconography, inspired by the
writings of Philo, St. John Chrysostom, and other
Christian writers, ‘brings together into one composition
portrayals of Earth, of the food she provides,
of man’s mastery over domestic animals,
and of his defenses against wild beasts... Thus…
like the Christian commentators, the makers of
the mosaics were defining humanity’s place in the
natural world created by God’. Piccirillo (1989:
339) similarly contends that scenes of farming,
hunting, and shepherding describe the concept
of the creation of which human beings are a part;
he argues (1993a: 29) that the rich repertoire of
hunting scenes refer back to the classical scenes
representing the capture and transport of wild
beasts for the amphitheatre. Merrony (1998: