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Rivers of Paradise, but only two of these personifications
have survived (Humbert 1999: 216-218;
Humbert et al. 2000: 125). The Greek inscription
attributes them to two mosaicists, Victor and
Cosmas, from Ashkelon.
The baptistry hall was paved with beautiful
geometric carpets, which have survived almost
in tact. The personifications of the Four Rivers
of Paradise were part of a special mosaic, later
almost completely destroyed, surrounding the
cross-shaped basin (fig. VIII-1); it consisted of four
exotic animals at the basin’s corners: an elephant
at the upper right, a giraffe at the lower right,
and perhaps a leopard and zebra at the left corners.
Between these animals were fruit trees and
the personifications of the Four Rivers of Paradise:
of these, only two survived the destruction
(fig. VIII-2c). On the left is a portrayal of a naked
woman’s bust with rivulets springing from her
breast. Only two letters of the Greek inscription
survived, identifying her as Gehon, usually identified
with the Nile (ordinarily this river is portrayed
as a male). On the right is a naked elderly man
with a green wreath in his hair and between his
arms an urn with water pouring out. The Greek
personification of natural forces 181
Figure VIII-1. The Four Rivers of Paradise: Baptistry of Jabaliyah church.
inscription above identifies him as Phison. Both
are rendered above a wavy pattern of water. The
two completely destroyed others were probably
portrayed on the upper and lower parts of the
same mosaic.
The Four Rivers of Paradise, found to date on
five mosaics in the Madaba region of Jordan, are
personified as a half naked reclining figures with a
reed in one hand and a cornucopia in the other,
from which water flows (Piccirillo 1993: 39).
The rectangular carpet of the main hall pavement
of the chapel of the Martyr Theodore in the
cathedral complex at Madaba has a geometric
pattern (Piccirillo 1993: 40, 117, figs. 112-115).
The four corner octagons show partly destroyed
busts of the four Rivers of Paradise, identified by
Greek inscriptions (fig. VIII-2a): the two octagons
on the west show Euphrates as a bust of a naked
man, with a mantle on his left shoulder, holding
a reed; of the Tigris only a hand holding the reed
survived; little survived of the Phison and Gehon
portrayed on the two octagons on the east.
In St. Paul’s church the geometric composition
of the nave’s central panel is divided into four
symmetrical parts by geometric bands (Piccirillo