Abstract
One of the most beautiful mosaic floors ever found in Israel was uncovered in a salvage excavation conducted in Lod in April 1996 by Miriam Avissar, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The floor was part of a Roman-period villa, domus urbana, dated from the end of the third to the beginning of the fourth century CE. This paper focuses on the southern panel in the northern part of the mosaic, depicting a unique scene of two merchant ships sailing in the open sea, surrounded by fish, a dolphin and seashells. Unfortunately, the panel—which attracted much attention by archaeologists and marine biologists—was damaged by an Ottoman-period cesspit dug in the center of the deck of one of the merchant ships, leaving only scarce clues as to the ship’s original appearance. This paper offers a reconstruction of the damaged ship based on the assumption that it was similar to the other, slightly larger, surviving merchant ship, and excavation finds. It is believed that the artist, or the villa’s owner, intended to convey a certain message, i.e., that the ship survived a marine trauma that put it at risk of drowning.
Recommended Citation
Haddad, Elie
(1905)
"إشارات لمحنة بحرية: مصاعب السفينة التجارية في فسيفساء اللد / Signs of Marine Distress: The Hardships of the Merchant Ship Depicted in the Lod Mosaic Floor,"
Cornerstone: Journal of Archaeological Sites (حجر الزاوية): Vol. 9, Article 5.
Available at:
https://publications.iaa.org.il/cornerstone/vol9/iss1/5
