Untitled

mosaic pavements adorning buildings in the hellenistic–early roman period 11
at Lower Herodium (Netzer 2001: 111, fig. 145).
A vaulted sarchopagus lid from the Tomb of
Helene of Adiabene (‘the Tomb of the Kings’) is
rendered with the straight-tongued double guilloche
(Hachlili 2005: 122, fig. III-35).
Other geometric patterns, especially those
imitating or resembling an opus sectile floor, are
rendered on the mosaic pavement of the small
tepidarium in the bathhouse at Lower Herodium
(Netzer 2001: 112, fig. 146), and on the mosaic
pavement of a later addition to the public reception
room and/or triclinium of the palace at Caesarea
(Netzer 2001: 121, fig. 160).
A star-like design framed by a floral scroll band
containing alternating leaves and fruits appears on
a mosaic at Lower Herodium (Netzer 2005: 35);
the scroll is similar to the design decorating the
inner frame of the Masada mosaic (pl. I.1a).
Plant Motifs
Plant motifs were common designs in ancient ornamental
art (Avi-Yonah 1948: 146-165; 1950:
49-58). They were used in architectural ornamentation
and mosaic pavements, and as funerary ornaments.
These motifs were adopted from earlier
Oriental designs or were imitations of local flora.
Their form and composition are sometimes stylized
into abstract or geometric patterns. Floral
and vegetation motifs were considered suitable for
aniconic expression, for repetitive patterns, and
for filling spaces. They include floral scrolls, the
palmette and the vine scroll, bunches of grapes,
pomegranates, and vine and ivy leaves. They are
found on mosaic pavements and in other Second
Temple art and architecture, on Jerusalem tomb
façades, and in ossuary decoration.
A spindly palmette appears on the Masada
mosaic (Oecus 456) in the corners of the inner
Figure I-6. Plant motifs: floral scrolls on mosaic pavements.
panel (fig. I-6); a quite similar motif is found on
the upper corner of an ossuary (Rahmani 1994:
44, figs 98, ossuary no.136). Stylized palmette
leaves are depicted in two corners of the bathhouse
vestibule mosaic in Jerusalem (pl. I. 4a)
(Avigad 1983: 144, figs. 160, 161) and are comparable
to corner decorations on ossuaries (Rahmani
1994: 44, ossuaries nos. 204, 371, 816). Palmettes
pointing outward with ribbons are rendered in the
corners of the inner panel with the multi-petalled
rosette in Oecus 456 of the Western Palace at
Masada (pl. I.1a). They also occur in corners of
the panels on the mosaic of Lower Herodium.
Comparable palmette motifs appear in architectural
art, on funerary art on a sarcophagus
from the Tomb of Herod, and in the central scroll
of the decorated sarcophagus lid from the Mount
of Olives (Dominus Flevit) (Hachlili 2005: 118,
123, figs. III-29, 35). A similar design with palmettes
in four corners of a mosaic with a six-petalled
rosette in the centre is depicted on a mosaic
floor at Delos (Bruneau 1972: figs. 229-231).
Pomegranates (fig. I-6) appear in the floral
scroll of the mosaic of the Western Palace at
Masada and on mosaics and in wall paintings of
the houses of the Upper City in Jerusalem (Avigad
1983: figs. 108, 166). Pomegranates are rendered
on a few Jerusalem ossuaries (Rahmani 1994: 44,
fig. 94, ossuaries nos. 209, 308,758 lid). One and
three pomegranates are rendered in the corners
of the mosaic panel in the main tepidarium at
Lower Herodium (pl. I.2a) (Netzer 2001: 112,
figs. 145; 2005: 33). Similar depictions of threepomegranate
motifs filled the corners between the
round and square borders (pl. I.3e) of the Palatial
Mansion vestibule mosaic (room 2) at Jerusalem
(Avigad 1983: 98, figs. 108-9).
Vine branches, leaves, and grapes are a popular
motif decorating several architectural fragments