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from Jerusalem (Avigad 1983: 184). It is found
even more in funerary art: in the wall painting
in the Goliath family tomb in Jericho (Hachlili
2005: fig. IV-5), on tomb façades in Jerusalem,
on sarcophagi, and on some ossuaries (Hachlili
2005: figs. III-29, 35).
Floral scrolls bordering a central schematic
design are depicted on several mosaics (Avi Yonah
1948: 149-150;1961: 65-69):
A schematic floral scroll on a dark ground,
consisting of alternating vine leaves, bunches of
grapes (or ivy leaves), and pomegranates, ornaments
a band framing the inner panel on the
Western Palace antechamber (Oecus 456) at
Masada (Foerster 1995: 148-149). The vine scroll
probably originated in the Hellenistic East and
was widely used in architectural elements, pottery,
and funerary art. A vine scroll with clusters of
grapes within a round coloured frame decorates
the round laconicum mosaic floor in the second
phase of the Lower Herodium bathhouse (Netzer
2001: 112, figs. 147; 2005: 36). A schematic floral
scroll rendered with various leaves and fruits as
a square frame of the inner round panel appears
on the main frigidarium pavement in the second
phase of the Lower Herodium bathhouse. The
central design in the square panel consists of a
star-like motif in red and white; the background is
white (Netzer 2005: 35). The scroll is quite similar
to the Masada floral scroll on the Oecus 456
mosaic. The floral scrolls motif appears only on
the mosaic pavements at Masada (Foerster 1995:
XXI) and Lower Herodium.
A comparable schematic floral scroll decorates
a sarcophagus lid (no. 1 from Dominus Flevit:
Avi-Yonah 1961: pl. 23). A vaulted sarchopagus
lid from the tomb of Helene of Adiabene (‘the
Tomb of the Kings’) is rendered with several similar
floral scrolls (Hachlili 2005: 122, fig. III-35).
The motif also appears on Jerusalem ossuaries
(Rahmani 1994: no. 587, gabled lid, a running
scroll, each spiral ending in a lily).
Varia
Exceptional motifs appear on a mosaic pavement
at Jerusalem: the spindle bottle motif and
the ‘gamma’.
The Spindle Bottle Motif
The spindle bottle motif appears in the upper
left corner of the mosaic panel of the bathhouse
vestibule in the Upper City in Jerusalem (pl. I.4a)
chapter one
(Avigad 1983: 144, figs. 160, 161); this is a new
motif on mosaic pavements, and represents a
common type of bottle used in the 1st century
BCE–1st century CE in the Hellenistic-Roman
world, quite frequently in a burial context.
The ‘Gamma’ Motif
The ‘gamma’ motif, an angled pattern with denticulated
ends, resembling the Greek letter gamma
(angular corner, L-shaped design) appears on a
small polychrome mosaic panel in area 0-2 of the
Upper City in Jerusalem (pl. I.4c) (Avigad 1983:
146, fig. 164); the mosaic has a central complex
rosette enclosed by a square frame. The corners
bear a geometric pattern similar to the ‘gamma’
motif. The same patterns appear on a Jerusalem
ossuary (Avi-Yonah 1950: 74, fig. 29, pl. 22,6;
Rahmani 1994: 37-38, fig. 67). On the basis of
textiles found in the Judaean desert caves, Yadin
(1963: 227-232) proved that these gamma signs
differentiated between male and female costumes.
On wall paintings at the Dura Europos
synagogue on panel WC4 , the female himatia
bear the same sign, in the shape of the Greek
Γ, while the male sign is straight (Hachlili 1998:
140, fig. Fig. III-25, III-29a). This motif became
popular in the Roman-Byzantine period on robes
identified as gammadia.
Black and White Mosaics
Black and white mosaics decorate several rooms
at Masada (fig. I-2): cubicula 78, 88 and antechambers
87 and 79, of the building on the upper
terrace of the Northern Palace and the palaestra
101 of the bath building (Foerster 1995: 151-158,
figs. 260-264). The designs rendered on these
floors are simple geometric patterns consisting
of remains of an all-over pattern and interlacing
circles in black on a white floor (bedroom 78);
remains of frames and a panel with a black allover
hexagon pattern on a white floor (bedroom
88, palaestra 101 of the bath building), a simple
rectangle formed by a black band (antechambers
87, 79).
These black and white mosaics have apparently
no direct predecessors in the Hellenistic period
in the East. They are typical of Roman mosaics
and were probably created by Roman craftsmen
brought in from Italy (Parlasca 1967: 548; Balty
1981: 359; Foerster 1995: 156; Dunbabin 1999:
188).