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the seasons with deliberate differences between
them.
At Petra church the personifications of the
four seasons are seen in the central and western
parts of the southern aisle, Mosaic II (pls. XII.1,2)
(Waliszewski 2001: 244-259, 318-321). They are
rendered in the central column (B), each in a
square panel and identified by a Greek inscription
(pl. VIII.2c). They are observed from the
entrance in this order: Winter, Spring, Summer
and Autumn, with Winter rendered the first
season of the year, as at El-Maqerqesh.
Winter (B2) is completely destroyed. only the
Greek inscription χιμερινή survived. Spring (B8),
a bust of a young woman, is shown in full frontal
face. She wears a brown sleeved garment, holds a
flower in her right hand and bowl or basket in her
left, and has the Greek inscription εαρινή (Waliszewski
2001: 251-252, 319). The figure wears
bracelets, earrings, and a necklace; her head is
crowned with a wreath of flowers fixed by a brown
ring, the hair is curled on the forehead and falls
to the sides. There are no close comparisons to
personification of natural forces 187
Figure VIII-4. Caesarea seasons mosaic.
the Petra figure. Summer, identified by the Greek
inscription θερινή (B14), is a woman’s bust shown
frontally, dressed in a white, sleeveless garment
exposing the right breast and shoulder, She wears
a hat and earrings, and holds a sickle in her right
hand and a bunch of twigs and a sheaf of corn in
her left (Waliszewski 2001: 255-56, 320). Autumn,
identified by the Greek inscription φθινοπωρινή
(B17), is a female bust shown frontally, wearing
a white, sleeveless tunic with a cloak draped on
the left shoulder and breast. Two bracelets adorn
the arm and wrist. The hem of the cloak is held
in both hands and it is filled with fruit grapes
and pomegranates (recalling representations of
Earth). The hair is curled and a wreath lies on it
(Waliszewski 2001: 257, 321).
In the Hippolytus Hall at Madaba (Piccirillo
1993: 39, 66, fig. 3, 13-14, 26-27) the four corners
of the wide border of acanthus scrolls that frames
the mosaic field have personifications of the four
seasons. All are represented as a half bust like
Tyche. Each wears on her head a yellow corona
muralis, a turreted crown; the faces and hair are