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existence in the 8th century and was able to produce
an outstanding pavement. Humbert (1999:
216) argues that the late dating of the mosaic indicates
that the iconoclasts did their damage later
than previously thought, that is, after 750, and it
was ‘associated with Abbasid conservatives’.
Many churches in Jordan were disfigured and
damaged by the iconoclastic crisis.
At Madaba only four pavements suffered from
iconoclasm. On the mosaic of Madaba Map
church, four human figures in two boats, two in
each, were disfigured and crudely repaired with
no attention to the original depictions; on the same
mosaic, in the scene of a lion chasing a gazelle in
the plains of Moab only the lion was damaged
and randomly repaired. The gazelle and the fishes
were not touched (Avi-Yonah 1954: 24-25; Piccirillo
1993: figs. 62). At Al-Khadir church (Piccirillo
1993: 129, figs. 142-156) almost all images
in the three panels were disfigured: yet tesserae
were removed only from parts of them, and the
outline was left untouched. At Martyr Theodore
chapel at the western end of the cathedral, some
but not all of the animals and humans suffered disfigurement
(Piccirillo 1993: 117, figs. 109-115).
In Wadi #Ayn al-Kanish on Mt. Nebo the nave
mosaic of Theotokos chapel suffered extensive disfigurement
of the inhabited vine scrolls, intended
to change its original animated appearance (Piccirillo
1998: 359-364; Ognibene 1998: 376-382;
figs. 7-9), which showed a scheme similar to Group
II of inhabited vine scrolls (Tab.VI-1). There had
been five columns and seven rows (pl. X.3). The
axial column contained objects such as a basket,
a bowl, a vase full of fruit, and flowers: these were
not damaged. In the central scroll of row 4 the
rare rendition of a phoenix was strangely spared
also, as were several other birds and animal parts
in the other rows integrated into the design. The
axial row was originally flanked symmetrically by
alternating birds and animals in each row: these
did suffer extensive intentional disfigurement.
They were replaced by plants, trees, grapes, and
plain tesserae. The nave alterations were made
during the restructuring in 762, and consisted of
covering over the two bottom rows with geometric
patterns and a central inscription, and reducing
the number of vine scrolls from seven to five, with
motifs either disfigured or modified. The tesserae
were apparently removed with care, and in some
medallions it is still possible to trace the original
outline of the animated images and details of the
restoration. Note especially the phoenix.
chapter ten
The nave mosaic and the two lateral chapels of
the Siyagha, Memorial of Moses, were the only
disfigured pavements on Mt. Nebo, while the Old
Diakonikon in the same church was not damaged.
The nave mosaic consists of three panels of
which the second, probably portraying a hunting
scene, was almost completely destroyed; in the
third panel with a geometric design of squares
containing fruit and animals, most of the animals
were ruined by iconoclasts (Piccirillo 1993: 148-
151, figs. 197, 200;1998: 300-304, figs. 74-76).
The apsidal area of New Baptistry chapel, a lateral
chapel of the Siyagha Memorial of Moses,
shows a panel of disfigured animals flanking trees.
The repair is poor, probably done with the same
tesserae (Piccirillo 1993: 150). The mosaic panel
of the sanctuary of the later Theotokos chapel
depicts disfigured but recognizable animals
flanking a temple and flowers (pl. II.4b). Note
the perfect preservation of the gazelle on the left
(Piccirillo 1993: 151, fig. 200; 1998: 300).
The Acropolis church at Ma‘in (Piccirillo 1993:
201, figs. 301,302, 312) shows iconoclastic damage
on the eastern mosaic panel; it originally depicted
a lion and zebu flanking a tree, and representing
the verse Isaiah 65: 25 inscribed in Greek
above the scene (pl. IV.8b). These images were
disfigured and replaced by a vase and plants on
the right and a bush on the left barely covering
the original legs, paws and tail of the lion. The
central tree foliage was also substituted.
Iconoclasm damage with crude repairs is found
on the pavement of six churches at Gerasa and on
five at Rihab (Schick 1995: Tables 10, 11).
Seven church pavements at Umm al-Rasas likewise
sustained iconoclastic damage. The human
and animal images were systematically destroyed
at these churches: Bishop Sergius, the Church
of the Lions, the Church of the Palm Tree, the
Church of the Rivers, Priest Wa’il, St. Paul and
St. Stephen. Damage at the these churches was
partial (Piccirillo 1993: figs. 338, 358, 365- 400).
The Church of the Lions experienced a strange
kind of iconoclasm (Piccirillo 1995: 394, fig. 8):
the human and animal figures in the main nave
were all destroyed, but in the presbytery the iconoclasts
disfigured the two bulls flanking the altar;
in the panel they damaged the gazelle on the left
and the bodies of the two lions, while the gazelle
on the right and some birds were spared.
The church of St. Paul, dated to the second
half of the 6th century, was used at least until
the first half of the 8th century (Piccirillo 1997,