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mosaics is the pronounced unidentical symmetry
depictions of flanking animals and menoroth
(see below). Human figures flanking trees appear
only in the heraldic compositions of mosaics at St.
Paul’s church and Church of the Rivers at Umm
al-Rasas. A heraldic panel depicting inscriptions
and menorah flanked by lions occurs only on synagogue
pavements (pls. IX.1, XI.1a); as noted,
the inscriptions on church mosaics are flanked
by various horned animals.
B. Animals Recognized as Enemies Now Peacefully
Portrayed
Heraldic and flanking animals, sometimes presenting
the confrontation of beasts and their prey,
are rendered on several mosaics.
Pairs of animals that are acknowledged enemies,
accompanied by the inscribed biblical verse
Isaiah 65: 25, are peacefully portrayed facing each
other on two 7th- or 8th-century partly destroyed
mosaic pavements (see Chap. IV). The main panel
in the centre mosaic of the Beth midrash at Meroth
shows the remnants of a lamb on the right and a
wolf on the left flanking an amphora (pl. IV.8a;
fig. IV-22). The first part of the Hebrew verse,
דחאכ וערי הלטו ביאז ‘The wolf and the lamb will
graze together’ (Isaiah 65: 25) is inscribed (Ilan
and Damati 1984-85; 1985; 1987: 77-80; Talgam
1987: 149-152; Ilan 1989: 33-34). A similar
vignette of flanking animals accompanied by the
second part of the verse was originally depicted in
the room north of the Acropolis church at Ma‘in
(De Vaux 1938; 227, fig. 2; Piccirillo 1993: 201,
figs. 301, 302, 312). The original scene showed
a zebu and a lion flanking a tree; this was damaged
and later repaired (pl. IV.8b). Above at the
border of the panel the biblical phrase ‘And the
lion will eat [straw] like the ox’ (Isaiah 65: 25) is
inscribed in Greek.
This depiction portrays Isaiah’s vision of the
End of Days, representing complete peace all over
nature; the rise of messianic peace is implied by
the illustration of animals by nature enemies at
peace with one another. It expresses a conceptual
perception of messianic vision of peace rather
than a biblical narrative story. Piccirillo contends
that the scene signifies ‘the messianic reign of
peace as foretold by Isaiah and thought to have
been realized by Christ’. Perhaps it is meant to
express some kind of prayer for peace (Naveh
1989: 305).
chapter nine
A heraldic composition of two bulls flanking
a temple/sanctuary image and probably two
gazelles and two flower clusters (pl. II.3b) occurs
on the rectangular mosaic panel in front of the
altar of Theotokos Chapel, a lateral chapel inside
the Memorial of Moses on Mt. Nebo (Piccirillo
1993: 151, fig. 200; 1998: 300, 302). Above the
scene is a biblical citation inscribed in Greek:
‘Then they shall lay calves upon thy altar’ (Psalms
51: 21). This scene might be a symbolic representation
of the conception of sacrifice. A comparable
scene of a pair of bulls flanking an altar with the
same accompanying from Psalms in Greek is seen
on the western panel of the nave of the Sts. Lot
and Procopius church (Saller and Bagatti 1949:
62, 105, pl. 34,3; Piccirillo 1993: 164-5, fig. 213).
The other pairs of heraldic animals are two hares
flanking a rock and a pair of deer between four
diagonally placed fruit trees (pl. IX.3; see discussion
below). The flanking animals apparently portray
a symbolic notion as verse 21 is the closing
verse of Psalm 51, and it contains a prayer for
the future of rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem
and renewal of worship there.
These scenes of flanking animals, Isaiah 11:
6-8; 65: 25 and Psalms 51: 21 the only verses
inscribed, are ostensibly symbolic images which
describe future visions of the messianic peace and
renewal of worship in Jerusalem.
A variation of the motif appears as a group
of animals confronting each other, but it is not
accompanied by the biblical citations: the pavement
border of a Byzantine building (church or
villa?) at Caesarea shows several pairs of a wild
animal and a tame animal, separated by fruit trees
(Avi-Yonah 1958: 61; Reich 1985: 211, fig. 2,
pl. LII 4,7). Among them are a bear and a boar,
a horse and a deer, a lion and a bull, and an
elephant (figs. VII-3; XII-14).
The mosaic at El-Maqerqesh consists of a main
rectangular carpet surrounded by a border. The
carpet is divided into a central vertical strip of four
circular medallions containing the personification
of the four seasons and ten octagonal panels surrounded
by various geometrical designs (Vincent
1922; Avi-Yonah 1932: 146-147, No. 23). Each
of the ten octagonal panels, set in two rows of
five octagons each, shows a pair consisting of a
wild beast and its animal prey facing each other
in position on a ground line and surrounded by
plants (fig. VIII-3): the five pairs are a stag and
a hunting dog, a lioness and a ram, a boar and