VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT STONE BY STONE TEAM CONSTRUCTION AND PRODUCTION PROCEDURES OF SIXTH-CENTURY MOSAICS IN PALESTINE AND TRANSJORDAN ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. V. Subramaniam, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen op donderdag 15 december 2016 om 9.45 uur in de aula van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105 door Diklah Zohar geboren te Petach- Tiqva, Israël 1
promotor: copromotoren: prof.dr. R.B. ter Haar Romeny dr. M. Immerzeel dr. K.C. Innemée 2
Fig. 1: Palestine and the Trans-Jordan in the sixth sentury with excavations sites of mosaic pavements (Hachlili 2009, 15) 3
Fig. 2: Detail with the zodiac sign of Aquarius, The Synagogue of Beth Alpha (Courtesy of the Israeli Antiquities Authority) Fig. 3: Reconstruction-suggestion for the internal division of Fig. 2 (Author) ) Fig. 4: Depiction of a tree, The Crypt of St Elianus, Madaba (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 127. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Fig 5: Reconstruction-suggestion for the internal division of Fig. 4 (Author) 4
Fig. 6: The Nile celebration mosaic, Sepphoris (detail) (Netzer/Weiss 1994, 49) Fig. 7: The Church of the Apostles, Madaba (detail) (Piccirillo 1997, detail of Fig. 79. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 5
Fig. 8: Bear-hunt scene, The Church of Kissufim (detail) (Ben Dov/Rappel 1987, 113) Fig. 9: Achilles playing the harp, Madaba (detail) (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 32. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 6
Fig. 10: Geometric detail The Crypt of St Elianus, Madaba, (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 125. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 11: The under-layers of a mosaic according to Vitruvius reconstruction (Dunbabin 1999, 281-282, Fig. 288) Fig. 12: Section drawing of the under-layers of the Nile mosaic at Sepphoris (Weiss/Talgam 2002, 58, Fig. 3) 7
Fig. 13: Section drawing of the under-layers of the House of Dionysos mosaic at Sepphoris (Talgam/Weiss 2004, 28, Fig. 31) Fig. 14: Preliminary drawing, lower apse, St Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna Archaeological Museum (Florentini- Roncuzzi/Florentini 2002, 223, pl. 82) Fig. 15: Bear-hunter (detail of Fig. 104), The Church of Kissufim (Author) Notice the depression of the light-green tesserae of embroidery along the shoulders and chest. 8
Fig. 16: Grave stele, Ostia (detail) (Becker/Kondoleon 2005, 40, fig. 30) Fig. 17: Villa San Rocco, Italy (Dunbabin 1999, 283, fig. 289) 9
Fig. 18: Mosaic of The House of the Bound Animals, Tunis (Dunbabin 1999, 287, fig. 296) 10
Fig. 19: Map of the churches in the Mount Nebo region (Piccirillo 2004, 5) 11
Fig. 20: Line drawing of the ground plan of The Church of Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 215. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 12
Fig. 21: Central scroll-field, The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 202. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 13
Fig. 22: Man carrying a basket of grapes, the Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (detail) (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 205. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Fig 23: Reconstruction suggestion for the inlay stages of Fig. 22 (Author) 14
Fig. 24: Wine pressing scene, detail of the mosaic of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 206. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 15
Fig. 25: Bird-catcher, outer border frame mosaic, Nahariah (detail) (Tsafrir 1993, Pl. II, Fig. B) Fig. 26: Sheep, outer border frame mosaic, Nahariah (detail) (Tsafrir 1993, Pl. II, Fig. A) 16
Fig. 27: Scrolls from the Church of St. Stephen (detail), Umm-al-Rasas (Piccirillo 1997, 382. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6 Fig. 28: Reconstruction suggestion of section-work of Fig. 22 (Author) 17
Hunter Feet Faces Fingers Clothes Limbs Grape picker Donkey leader Presser right Presser left Flute player Basket carrier Fisherman Boat-man Fig. 29: Comparative chart of repetitive features of the human Figures from The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, Figs. 201-209) 18
Fig. 30: Hound chasing a hare, The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 207. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 31: Right sheep, altar panel (detail), The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 214. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 19
Fig. 32: Bud 1: Line drawing of tessrae pattern of the bud around the frame of the nave and around the frame of the southern aisle at The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Fig. 36) (Author) Fig. 33: Bud 2: Line drawing of tessrae pattern of the bud of the northern aisle at The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Fig. 35) (Author) Fig. 34: Bud 3: Line drawing of tesserae pattern of the bud of the diagonal grid of the southern aisle at The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Fig. 36) (Author) Fig. 35: Northern aisle bud pattern, (detail), The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius, (Piccirillo/Alliata 1998, 346, Fig. 194. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 36: Southern aisle bud pattern, the Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (detail) (Piccirillo/Alliata 1998, 346, fig. 193) 20
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Fig. 37: Three details of tendrils, The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, details from Fig. 203, Fig. 204, and Fig. 206, respectively) Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Fig. 38: Three details of leaves, The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, details from Fig. 203, Fig. 207 and Fig. 205, respectively) Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Fig. 39: Three details of bunches of grapes, The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, details from Fig. 203, Fig. 204 and Fig. 205, respectively) 21
Fig. 40: The Upper Chapel of the Priest John, general view (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 230. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 22
Fig. 41: Detail of a shepherd shooting a stone, Upper Chapel of Priest John (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 223. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 23
Fig. 42: Detail of a youth carrying a basket, Upper Chapel of Priest John (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 224. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 24
Fig. 43: Detail of a lion, The Upper Chapel of the Priest John (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 219. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 44: Detail of a ram, The Upper Chapel of the Priest John (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 218. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 25
Fig. 45: Detail of a sheep, The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, detail from Fig. 202) Fig. 46: Running Hound, The Church of the Holy Martyrs Lot and Procopius (Piccirillo 1997, 207. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 47: Hound, The Upper Chapel of the Priest John (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 220. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 26
Fig. 48: Line drawing of the ground plan of the Sanctuary of Moses (Siyagha), Mount Nebo (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 193. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 27
Fig. 49: The Old Diakonikon general view, Sanctuary of Moses, Mount Nebo (Piccirillo/Alliata 1998, 264) 28
Fig. 50: Detail of a tree, The Old Diakonikon (detail of Fig. 49) Fig. 51: Detail of a sitting shepherd, The Old Diakonikon, Mount Nrbo (Author) 29
Fig. 52: Hunter (detail), The Old Diakonikon (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 172. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 53: Figure of a Phrygian (detail), The Old Diakonikon (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 165. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 30
Fig. 54: The Church of the Deacon Thomas general view (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 263. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 31
Fig. 55: Detail of a sheep, The Church of the Deacon Thomas (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 252. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 56: The Theotokos Chapel, Mount Nebo (Piccirillo 1997, 151, Fig. 200. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 32
Fig. 57: The Baptistery Chapel, Mount Nebo (Piccirillo 1997, 150, Fig. 197. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 58: The Church of the Lions, Umm-al-Rasas (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 338. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 33
Fig. 59: Gazelle, The Theotokos Chapel, Mount Nebo (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 173. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Gazelle, Theotokos Chapel, 603-608 AD Fig. 60: Gazalle, The Baptistery Chapel, Mount Nebo, 597 AD (Author) Fig. 61: (detail of fig. 58): Gazelle, The Church of the Lions, Umm-al-Rasas, 574 or 589 AD (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 340. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 34
head Theotokos Baptistery Lions tail belly Fig. 62: Comparative table of details: gazelles (Figs 59-61) 35
Fig. 63: Fragment of the nave mosaic, The Memorial of Moses, Mount Nebo (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 191. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 64: The sanctuary mosaic at The Northern Church of Esbus (details) (Piccirillo 1997, Fig 426. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) Fig. 65: Detail of the nave mosaic at The Northern Church of Esbus (Piccirillo 1997, Fig. 429. Courtesy of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Mt. Nebo, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman) 36
Fig. 66: Map of the region of Gaza (Bitton-Ashkelony/Kofsky 2004, Map 1) 37
Fig. 67: The Synagogue of Gaza, south aisle, eastern section (Ovadiah/Ovadiah 1987, Plate LII Fig. 1) Fig. 68: The Synagogue of Gaza, south aisle, middle section (Ovadiah/Ovadiah 1987, Plate LIII Fig. 1) 38
39 Fig. 69: The Synagogue of Gaza, south aisle, west section (Ovadiah/Ovadiah 1987, Plate LIII Fig. 2)
Fig. 70: Detail of the Worchester Hunt mosaic (Becker/Kondoleon 2005, p. 232) Fig. 70: Reconstruction drawing of the internal division of the deer from Fig. 70 (Author) Fig. 71: Reconstruction drawing of the internal division of the hound from Fig. 70 (Author) 40
Fig. 73: Wild Donkey, The Synagogue of Gaza (Author) Fig. 74: Zebra, The Synagogue of Gaza (Ben Dov/Rappel 1987, 83) 41
Fig. 75: Tigress, The Synagogue of Gaza (Courtesy of the Israeli Antiquities Authority) Fig. 76: Gaza, leopard (left) Fig. 77: reconstruction of Fig. 76 42
Fig. 78: Fox (right), The Synagogue of Gaza (Author) Fig. 79: Detail of tendrils, leaves and bunches of grapes, The Synagogue of Gaza (Author) 43
44 Fig. 80: Line-drawing of the mosaic in Maon-Nirim synagogue (Stern, 1992, vol. 3 p. 968)
Fig. 81: Elephant (right), The Synagoge of Maon-Nirim (Author) Fig. 82: Reconstruction drawing of the internal division of the elephant in Maon-Nirim Fig. 81 (Author) Fig. 83: Leopard, The Synagogue of Maon-Nirim (Author) Fig. 84: Reconstruction drawing of the internal division of the leopard in Maon-Nirim Fig. 83 (Author) Fig. 85: Lion (left), of The Synagoge of Maon-Nirim (Author) Fig. 86: Reconstruction drawing of the internal division the left lion in Maon-Nirim, Fig. 85 (Author) 45
Fig. 87: Ram, The Synagoge of Maon- Nirim (Courtesy of the Israeli Antiquities Authority) Fig. 88: Hare, The Synagoge of Maon- Nirim (Author) Fig. 89: Deer, The Synagoge of Maon- Nirim (Author) Fig. 90: Hound, The Synagoge of Maon- Nirim (Author) Fig. 91: Gazelle, The Synagoge of Maon- Nirim (Author) 46
Fig. 92: The mosaic at The Church of Shellal (Courtesy of the Memorial War Museum, Canberra, Australia) 47
Fig 93: Ram (left), The Church of Shellal (Courtesy of the Memorial War Museum, Canberra, Australia) Fig. 94: Goat (right) The Church of Shellal (Courtesy of the Memorial War Museum, Canberra, Australia) Fig. 95: Hound, The Church of Shellal (Courtesy of the Memorial War Museum, Canberra, Australia) Fig. 96: Reconstruction drawing of grape type 1 (Author) Fig. 97: Reconstruction drawing of grape type 2 (Author) Fig. 98: Reconstruction drawing of grape type 3 (Author) 48
Fig. 99: Mosaic of the Church in Horvat Be er Shema (Hachlili 2009, Pl. VI.5) 49
Fig. 100: Horse, Horvat Be er Shema (Tsafrir 1993, Pl. XXI, Fig. F) Fig. 101: Bull, Horvat Be er Shema (Tsafrir 1993, Pl. XXI, Fig. D) Fig. 102: Crouching bull, The Synagogue of Maon- Nirim (Author) Fig. 103: Crouching bull, Horvat Be er Shema (Hachlili 2009, Pl. XII.8 detail c right) 50
Fig. 104: Horseman attacking a panther, The Church of Kissufim (Ben Dov/Rappel 1987, 111) Fig. 105: Grazing sheep and ram, The Church of Kissufim (Hachlili 2009, 171, Fig. a) Fig.106: Reconstruction drawing of the internal division of fig. 105 (Author) 51
Fig. 107. Lion attacking a bull, The Church of Kissufim (Author) Fig. 108. White horse, The Church of Kissufim (Author) Fig. 109: Jabaliya (source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/archaeologists-race-to-save-gazas-ancientruins.aspx?pageid=238&nid=52967&newscatid=375) 52
110: Lioness and her cub, The Synagogue of Gaza (Courtesy of the Israeli Antiquities Authority) 111: Lion (left), The Synagogue of Maon- Nirim (Author) Fig. 112: Lion The Church of Shellal (Courtesy of the Memorial War Museum, Canberra, Australia) Fig. 113: Tigress and het cub, The Church of Kissufim (Tsafrir 1993, Pl. XXII, Fig. E) Fig. 114: Lion (right), Horvat Be er Shema (Tsafrir 1993, Pl. XXI, Fig. D) Fig. 101: Reconstruction drawing of the internal division of Fig. 114. 53
Fig. 116: Duck, The Synagogue of Maon- Nirim (Author) Fig. 117: Replica experiment: the duck in Fig. 116 (Author) 54