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Lihi Habas

Abstract

Excavations in the Naḥal Qidron monastery recovered several colorful mosaics. A mosaic floor exhibing geometric interlaces populated by animals was uncovered in the church hall, and a mosaic floor depicting geometric and vegetal patterns was found in the vestibule. The monastery courtyard was paved with a crude white mosaic floor. These mosaics find parallels throughout the Holy Land, dating from the Byzantine and Umayyad periods, in both secular and religious contexts. However, their pronounced connection with other mosaics in the vicinity of Jerusalem suggests that at least one mosaic workshop operated in the Jerusalem area. The Naḥal Qidron mosaics are simpler than those in the Chapel of Artavan on the Mount of Olives and at Ḥorbat Berakhot, testifying to the work of different mosaicists, or perhaps, to a master and his apprentices. There may have been several workshops in the vicinity of Jerusalem, which influenced the work of the mosaicist at Naḥal Qidron. Based on stylistic and technical analyses of the mosaics—especially the geometric depiction of the animals’ bodies, a lack of movement and little illusion of volume, as well as a general use of tesserae of uniform size, except around the eyes—they were dated to the mid-sixth century CE. A rare marble bowl with a polylobed lip, and a common marble panel bearing the stephanostaurion motif, indicate the import of luxury liturgical marble items to furnish the monastery. Architectural sculpture, a mortarium engraved with a cross, as well as liturgical furniture made from bituminous schist, point to the activity of local artists. The use of bitumen to imitate marble, and the schematic design of the altar table, testify to a date in the seventh century CE, toward the end of the Byzantine or the Umayyad period, when marble liturgical furniture was replaced with local products made of material that imitated marble.

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