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Some scholars propose that depictions on
church pavements of a sheep or ram tied to a
tree, or entangled in front of or beside it, refer
to the Binding of Isaac (Bagatti 1984: 296-7,
figs. 31-32; Piccirillo 1989: 339; Talgam 2000:
94, 102-3). The scene is rendered on the lower
mosaic of the church at Massuh (end of 5th century),
on the upper mosaic of the Baptistry chapel
in the cathedral at Madaba (mid-6th century),
and in the chapel of the Twal family, likewise
at Madaba (Piccirillo 1993: figs. 117, 138, 447).
A similar scene of a ram leaning against a small
tree is rendered in the presbytery of St. George’s
church at Mukhayyat (Saller and Bagatti 1949:
67, 107, 236-237, pls. 23,1; Piccirillo 1998: 322,
note 48, fig. 122). Maguire (1987: 71) maintains,
‘The location of these motifs immediately behind
the altar is a strong argument for reading them as
a reference to the sacrifice of Isaac as a prefiguration
of the divine sacrifice’. This proposition is
feasible, although in Christian art sheep and rams
carry other connotations too.
In Jewish art the Binding of Isaac was probably
meant as a belief in God’s grace and as a symbol
of life, while in Christian art, although the full
scene does not appear on mosaic pavements, it
represents a prefiguration of the life and sacrifice
of Jesus. Furthermore, whereas the Jews depicted
the full theme on synagogue pavements and the
wall painting at Dura-Europas, the early Christians
preferred to show it in their funerary art on
Roman catacomb walls and sarcophagi (Hachlili
1988: 288-292; 1998: 239-246). The abbreviated
scene of the ram tied to a tree on the Christian
mosaic pavements is intended, if at all, merely as
a symbolic notion.
Noah’s Ark depicted on the Gerasa synagogue
narthex pavement portrays the animals leaving
Noah’s ark, with Noah and his family celebrating
the event (fig. IV.6, 7a). This suggests that the
symbolic meaning of the scene is God’s promise
not to destroy the world again. By comparison,
in Early Christian art the scene is usually a symbolic
rendition, on catacombs and sarcophagi, of
the ark as a box, within it Noah sending off the
dove (fig. IV.10); the story here symbolizes death
and resurrection and salvation for the believer
(Hachlili 1988: 292-294; 1998: 249-256).
Daniel in the Lion’s Den (figs. IV.16-17)
appears on the Na‘aran synagogue nave mosaic
floor in the first panel, below the Ark and Jewish
symbols, showing Daniel in an orans posture
flanked by two lions; a similar scene was probably
between synagogue and church 227
depicted on the Susiya synagogue pavement, but
was almost entirely destroyed (pl. X.2c). This
theme was also popular in Early Christian art
in catacombs and sarcophagi (figs. IV.18); it is
related to a death cult, symbolizing a person saved
because of his faith (Hachlili 1988: 294-295).
In Christian art, biblical scenes are seldom
depicted on church mosaic pavements. One
such scene is found on the Mahat el Urdi church
mosaic floor at Beth Guvrin, depicting the biblical
theme of Jonah; it is shown in two different octagons,
one in the north aisle and the other in the
south aisle (fig. IV-24). The first octagon shows
Jonah in the jaws of the fish; the second portrays
him lying under the gourd. In the two aisles the
Jonah depictions fill the third octagon of each
aisle carpet. Although the Jonah scenes have a
partly central position, this is not as prominent
as the space occupied by the biblical scenes on
synagogue pavements. A Jonah scene is found
also on the mosaic pavement of the North African
church of Aquileia (Grabar 1967: pl. 19;
Engerman, 1986: 85-87). Another unique biblical
scene depicts Adam in Paradise surrounded
by animals; this is on the mosaic pavement of the
nave of the north church (The ‘Michaelion’) of
Haouarte (Donceel Voûte 1988: 104, 112-114,
480, 487, fig. 71; pl. h.-t.5). The scene shows
Adam giving names to the animals in Paradise
(Gen 2: 19-20).
Two mosaic pavements, one in the Beth
Midrash at Meroth, the other at the Acropolis
church in Ma‘in, portray Isaiah’s vision of the
End of Days (or the Peaceful Kingdom), representing
perfect peace all over nature (pl. IV.8;
figs. IV-22-23; Campbell 1995). The partly
destroyed mosaic of the Beth Midrash (a side room
of the synagogue) at Meroth (pl. IV.8a), shows
in the centre of the main panel a lamb on the
right and a wolf on the left flanking an amphora
(Ilan and Damati 1984-85; 1985; 1987: 77 -80;
Talgam 1987: 149-152; Ilan 1989: 33-34); the
scene is accompanied by the biblical Hebrew verse
דחאכ וערי הלטו ביאז ‘The wolf and the lamb
will graze together’ (Isaiah 65: 25). This is the
lesser known verse, and is unique to the Meroth
mosaic.
Originally a similar rendition in the room north
of the Acropolis church at Ma‘in (De Vaux 1938:
227, Fig. 2; Piccirillo 1993: 201, Fig. 312) showed
a zebu and a lion flanking a tree (pl. IV.8b). Not
much of it survived; the biblical verse in Greek
is inscribed above: ‘And the lion will eat [straw]