Untitled

1933: 146, No. 23, 8; 1934: 73 =1981b:
294, 375, Nr.23, 8). Donderer (1989: 72,
A30, pl. 21,1) regards this inscription as
the work of apprentices of Obodianos,
master of a mosaic workshop that made
the pavement.
Several other inscriptions mention the mosaicists
who created mosaic pavements. At ‘Ein Fattir
church an inscription in a tabula ansata mentions
the master craftsmen Claudianus and Immanuel
(Chambon and Strus 1994: 84). At Battir
the inscription names Antonis Galoga (Avi-Yonah
1932: 142, no. 13=1981: 289, 375, no. 13, but see
Donderer 1989: 123, C1, who does not see it as a
mosaicist’s inscription). The brothers Pelagius and
Thomas, who made the pavement at Emmaus
(Avi-Yonah 1933: 53, 73, no. 346=1981: 355,
375 no. 346). In the monastery of Bir-el-Qutt, a
mosaicist called Josiah is mentioned in the inscription
on the mosaic (Ovadiah 1987: no. 54).
•
The Greek mosaic inscription in the Nile
Festival building at Sepphoris contains
(lines 4-8 of the epigram), according to
Di Segni (2002: 93, 95-6), a eulogy of the
Nile mosaic’s Alexandrine artists, Procopius
and his son-in-law Patricius. She even contemplates
that Procopius was the head of
the team or workshop while Patricius was
his apprentice. Bowersock (2004) suggests
various corrections to the reading of the
inscription and a different interpretation;
he argues that this epigram is about the
identification of the Nile Festival building
as the mansion of Absbolius, or Patricius
the son-in-law of Procopius, governor of
Palaestina Secunda in the early 6th century.
mosaicists, workshops, and the repertory 247
Figure XII-3. Inscription on the pavement of the chapel at El Maqerqesh in Beth Guvrin.
•
Di Segni (2005) rejects Bowersock’s reading.
However, Di Segni’s interpretation of the
eulogy glorifying the artists seems hardly
tenable. Nothing in the inscription’s phrasing
implies any artistic work or any indication
that the named persons were in any way
connected to the making of the mosaic.
The mosaics of the baptistral hall at the
Byzantine church at Jabaliyah near Gaza
were fashioned by two mosaicists, Victor
and Cosmas, from Ashkelon according to
the Greek inscription (Humbert et al. 2000:
125).
Several inscriptions mention craftsmen who
paved church mosaics in Jordan (Piccirillo 1993:
47; 2005-6: note 12). They refer to one, two, or
three mosaicists. The prominence of the inscriptions
and the mosaicists’ names indicate that the
artists were advertising their work. Sometimes a
prayer for their salvation is included, attesting to
a ‘desire to leave a lasting record of piety where it
could be read by both God and men’ (Dunbabin
1999: 273).
•
•
An inscription surrounding the circular
medallion with the personification of the
Sea in the centre of the nave of the Apostles
church at Madaba reads: ‘O Lord God who
has made the heavens and the earth, give
life to Anastasius, to Thomas and Theodora,
and [this is the work] of Salaman the
mosacist’ Σαλαμανίου ψηφ(οθέτου) (Piccirillo
1993: 106, fig. 78; Donderer 1989:
76, A35). It commemorates the work of a
craftsman, with an added prayer.
An inscription in Priest John’s church at
Mukkayyat on Mt. Nebo names the monk