רצפת פסיפס מהמאה הז' לסה"נ בפי מצובה

A mosaic floor (L119) was unearthed in a square room (Area 1, Room 2; 25.5 sq m) uncovered at Pi Maẓuva (see Cinamon and Lerer, this volume: Plan 1). The mosaic was laid upon a bedding (L131; 5 cm thick) of cement and crushed lime that leveled the bedrock. Above the mosaic were accumulations of soil and potsherds, covered by a pile of building blocks, evidence that the building’s walls had collapsed long after the room was abandoned. The mosaic (Fig. 1) comprises a broad border of acanthus medallions, surrounding a central carpet of flower buds with a woman’s protome depicted in its center. The mosaic was only partially preserved. The tesserae are of uniform size (about 90 tesserae per square decimeter), but some details are made of smaller tesserae (156–210 per square decimeter). The motifs that populate the acanthus border were meant to be read by those who stood in the center of the room. These are described clockwise, beginning with the western strip. The Western Strip. An acanthus goblet is depicted in the center of this strip (Figs. 2, 3). The medallions next to it are adorned with animals: the left medallion depicts a feline (Fig. 3); the animal in the right medallion was not identified (Fig. 2). In the medallion to the left of the goblet, a pecking bird faces left to another medallion with another bird (Figs. 2, 4). The Southern Strip. An acanthus goblet is depicted in the center of this strip as well. The medallions to its left did not survive, but on its right is a medallion depicting a figure of a young man (Fig. 5). To the left of the figure are the remains of an undeciphered Greek inscription, of which five letters survived in two rows: the first three were not identified, and the fourth is an omega (Ω); beneath them is a sigma (Σ). To the right of the figure, near its top, appears another omega (Ω). The medallion next to the figure on the right houses a bird, and in the medallion next to it is a fruit-bearing plant. The Eastern Strip. An amphora is depicted in the center of this strip (Fig. 6). In the medallion to the right of the amphora is a lion, and in the medallion to its left is a rabbit eating a cluster of grapes (Fig. 6); both animals face the amphora. To the left of the rabbit stands a young man holding a bird by its legs (Figs. 6, 7); he is wearing a short tunic adorned with a belt. The corner medallion depicts an empty cage with its door open (Fig. 7). The medallions to the right of the lion were damaged. The Northern Strip. In the center of the northern strip of the mosaic frame is an acanthus head (Fig. 8)—a frequent motif in acanthus rinceau borders since the Hellenistic period. The top of the acanthus head was repaired in antiquity in black and white tesserae. The medallion to the left of the head depicts a mammal (hunting dog?), whose head did not survive (Fig. 8). The medallions to its right (Fig. 9) were adorned with floral patterns, as well as two colorful rhomboids and part of a bird. Central Motif. In the center of the mosaic carpet is a woman’s bust enclosed within an octagon (Fig. 10). The woman has black hair, a wreath on her head and earrings dangling from her ears. The figure holds a flower calyx in her right hand, and a cornucopia with pomegranates and two yellow fruits in her left hand. To the left of the figure are five Greek letters: alpha (A); below it omicron (O), kapa (K) and an unidentified letter (H?); below them is a nu (Ν). The female figure seems to be a personification of abundance and agricultural fertility; the partial preservation of the inscription does not allow for a precise identification. Such personifications are very common in mosaics adorning farmhouses of the affluent in North Africa and villas in Antioch, attesting to the residents’ classical education (in Greek: paideia). The mosaic uncovered at Pi Maẓuva seems to have been made by experienced artists during the late Byzantine–Early Islamic period. The motifs are eclectic, pointing to a continuity of classical traditions, on the one hand, and turning away from them, on the other. The acanthus rinceau border depicts acanthus heads, acanthus goblets and an amphora, indicating that the artist was familiar with the available repertoire; however, by choosing to depict several options in one carpet border, he deviated from the accepted rules and favored symmetry over diversity. The execution of the classical motifs in this mosaic points to a process of schematization and degeneration, which are characteristic of late Byzantine art. Based on iconographic and stylistic considerations, the mosaic from Pi Maẓuva should be dated to the seventh century CE. Further support for this date are the finding of an Arab-Byzantine coin (see Bijovsky, this volume: No. 5) and a unique five-nomismata bronze weight (studied by Danny Syon; see Cinamon and Lerer, this volume: Fig. 6), dating to the end of the sixth century CE, in the bedding of the mosaic. This mosaic joins many other mosaic floors that were created after the Muslim conquest, attesting that local Byzantine traditions continued throughout the seventh–eighth centuries CE. A question remains as to the nature of the structure that housed the mosaic. The presence of a metal cross (see Cinamon and Lerer, this volume: Fig. 2), a cross engraved on a stone lintel (see Cinamon and Lerer, this volume: Fig. 5) and other crosses that appear on some of the pottery vessels (see Lerer, this volume: Figs. 3:9; 7:2; 10:4, 5) point to a Christian ownership. However, this structure does not seem to have been a chapel, but rather, a room used for entertaining guests in a farmhouse of affluent people.