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identical but they wear different garments. Three
of the personifications hold a cornucopia in their
left arm. That of Spring is filled with a bunch of
grapes, Autumn’s is full of flowers tumbling out,
and Winter holds a cornucopia from which water
flows. Summer holds a sheaf of corn.
Four seasons are depicted on the mosaic of St.
George’s church (Saller and Baggati 1949: 72,
101-2, pl. 27; Piccirillo 1998: 323, figs. 125-126;
130,132). Four busts of women lie in the square
panels alternating with a meander pattern on the
border of the nave field. The personifications of
Winter and Summer are on the east side of the
border, Autumn and Spring on the west side. All
are in frontal pose.
The portrayed women wear richly decorated
tunics and cloaks concealing the arms. They are
adorned with jewellery and accompanied by their
attributes. Winter has curly hair, and florets decorate
the two upper corners. Summer, wearing
earrings, has a turreted crown on her head, like
Tyche, and ears of corn (these are comparable
to the personifications at the Hippolytus Hall).
Olive-tree twigs placed in the two upper corners
characterize Autumn. Spring wears a tunic and
a pall; in her left hand she holds a cornucopia
full of fruit.
Bishop Sergius church originally had personifications
of the four seasons at the corners of a
vine scroll border, but only one, in the southeast
corner, survived the iconoclast crisis; it shows the
bust of a young woman wearing a mantle and
holding a cornucopia in her left hand (Piccirillo
1993: 39, 234, fig. 332).
The mosaic at the Hall of the Seasons at
Madaba portrays three female busts depicted
in acanthus scrolls in the corners of the mosaic
border. They have elongated faces and long hair;
one is adorned with a ribbon, the other two have
crowns on their heads (Piccirillo 1993: 39, 76,
fig. 35, 41-42).
Of the four seasons that originally decorated the
mosaic in St. Peter and Paul Church at Gerasa,
only the name of Summer survived (Biebel 1938:
335, 485).
One of the intercolumnar spaces of the
southern row in Priest Wa"il church at Umm
al-Rasas is rendered with four busts of women
(disfigured) identified as seasons. Each holds a
cornucopia from which water flows; they are
depicted between images of buildings, towers,
and houses (Piccirillo 1993: 39, 243, fig. 397).
chapter eight
A comparable depiction of the seasons appears
on the 3rd-century mosaic floor at Zliten in North
Africa (Hanfmann 1951: II, 112, no. 135 and p.
148). The seasons are winged female busts, each
with a wreath on her head matching the season
(fig. VIII-5).
The four seasons each, in a compartment,
appear on the mosaic at Deir es Sleib church in
Syria; horses in various postures are rendered in
the other four compartments (fig. VIII-6) (Hanfmann
1951: II, 121, No. 192; Donceel-Voûte
1988: fig. 35).
The four seasons, the four winds and the
twelve months are among the figures decorating
the aisles of the St. Christoph’s church mosaic at
Qabr Hiram in Phoenicia (fig. VIII-7) (Hanfmann
1951: II, 117-120, no. 193; Donceel-Voûte 1988:
412-415, figs. 402, 404; 1995: fig. 12). The seasons
are rendered as winged female busts presented
in couples, Spring and Winter in the north aisle
and Summer and Autumn in the south aisle. All
are enclosed in round medallions, among many
other pairs of figures, animals, birds, and fishes
in medallions.
The representations of the seasons with their
specific attributes described are comparable to
those found on the Roman-Byzantine pagan
mosaic floors of the 2nd-5th centuries. Most are
winged busts, usually crowned with a wreath
(Hanfmann 1951: I, 192-96). Though their symbols
are similar, they are not identical with those
of the Jewish zodiacs and the Christian examples.
Spring’s common attribute on mosaic designs
is the plate or basket of fruit or the shepherd’s
crook. Spring holding a plate of fruit is depicted
on several mosaics: on the 4th-century Daphne
mosaic floor (Hanfmann 1951: II, 64, No. 23),
on the south aisle (mosaic II) of the Petra church
(pl. VIII.2 c; Waliszewski 2001: 251-252, 319),
on the floor of Qabr Hiram church (fig. VIII-7a)
(Hanfmann 1951: II, 117-120, n. 193), and on the
synagogue pavements of Hammath Tiberias and
Sepphoris. Spring on the El-Maqerqesh mosaic a
bird is rendered on the plate (pl. VIII.2b); a similar
bird appears on the Beth "Alpha synagogue
mosaic. Several Spring personifications hold a
cornucopias full of fruit in their hands: at Hippolytos
Hall, at St. George’s church, and at Priest
Wa"il’s church. Spring is comparable in jewellery,
wreath, and dress at Hammath Tiberias,
Caesarea (the winged Spring), and in the Petra
church south aisle (pl. VIII.2). The shepherd’s