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182
1997: fig. 5, fotos 27, 28a-d; 2002: 544-545, 548;
Piccirillo and Alliata 1999: pl. IV, right). In the
centre of the design the personification of Earth
is rendered in a small square; personifications of
the four Rivers of Paradise are depicted in the
four round medallions (figs. VIII-2b). Gehon and
Phison are in the upper panels, each surrounded
by four fishes (disfigured). In the bottom medallions
are the almost completely destroyed Tigris,
surrounded by four vases, and the Euphrates,
surrounded by four baskets; all suffered in the
iconoclast crisis, which left only their inscriptions;
repairs were crudely done.
The outer frame of the nave of the Church of
the Rivers is decorated with an inhabited vine
scroll. The trellises arise from jars held by four
personifications of rivers in the four corners of
the border; only one has survived (Piccirillo 1993:
241, Fig. 390; 1995: 395; Piccirillo and Alliata
1999: pl. IV).
chapter eight
Figure VIII-2. The Four Rivers of Paradise: a. Martyr Theodore chapel in the cathedral at Madaba; b. St. Paul church
at Umm al-Rasas; c. Baptistry, Jabaliyah church.
In the church of the Sunna family at Madaba
two mosaic fragments show remains of river personifications
(Piccirillo 1993b: 277-313, pls. 8-9;
Piccirillo and Alliata 1999: pl. IV, bottom).
Four small vases with flowing water, each
accompanied by the name of one of the Four
Rivers of Paradise (pl. X.3), are seen in the corners
surrounding the inscription of the Theotokos
chapel in the monastery at #Ayn al-Kanisah on
Mt. Nebo (Piccirillo 1994: 521-538, fig. p. 528;
pls. 19-26; 1998: 363, figs. 232-236; Piccirillo and
Alliata 1999: pl. IV bottom). The vases and their
inscriptions were added during the redecoration
of the mosaic in the 8th century.
Comparable but different depictions of the
Four Rivers of Paradise appear on mosaics at
other sites. An unusual Nilotic scene is portrayed
on the presbytery pavement of the church of Tayibat
al-Imam in the Hama district of Syria. The
bema mosaic renders a river with fishes and Nilotic