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In Caesarea the scene is on a mosaic pavement
almost completely preserved in the hall of the
courtyard building (stratum IVb, Area NN;
Patrich et al. 1999: 97-98, fig. 33). The main field
consists of a square composition of four long vinetree
trunks inserted in each of the four corners of
the square, set diagonally, meeting in the centre
to form four triangles; within them, two horned
animals face each other: pairs of ibexes, deer,
goats, and stags (fig. IX-6). The rest of the carpet
is completely filled with vine trellises, leaves, and
a few small birds.
Comparable designs in Jordan are the following.
The western panel of the nave of Sts. Lot and
Procopius church at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (Saller
and Bagatti 1949: 61-63, 105; fig. 7; pls. 20,1,2;
chapter nine
Figure IX-6. Caesarea mosaic pavement.
34,3; Piccirillo 1993: 164-5, fig. 213; 1998: 346)
has a comparable diagonal composition (pl. IX.3).
The western field of the nave (oriented in the
opposite direction from the eastern field) consists
of four diagonal stylized fruit trees that meet in the
centre to form four triangles, in each of which a
pair of animals face each other. The most important
is pair of bulls, each the distinctively different,
flanking a small octagonal altar with flames of
fire; below the scene is an accompanying biblical
verse in Greek: ‘Then they shall lay calves upon
thine altar’ (Psalms 51: 21). The bulls perhaps
represent animals for sacrifice on the altar (Saller
and Bagatti 1949: 105). The other animals are
a pair of hares flanking a rock, one crouching,
a pair of wild goats (destroyed), and a pair of