Ancient and Medieval Pavements

"This paper proposes three new (and tentatively, another two) identifications of sundials in Middle Eastern mosaics of the 5th – 8th century. The author discusses a vignette from the Holy Martyrs’ Church at Tayibat al-Imâm, central Syria, a mosaic panel from the tomb of Georgia and Theodosia in Jerusalem, two
vignettes of Sebastis and Kastron Mefaa from the St. Stephan’s Church at Umm al-Rasas, and a vignette of Jerusalem from the St. George’s Church at Madaba. These mosaics date, respectively, to 442, to the reign of Justinian (527 –565), and to the Byzantine Umayyad era (718). According to the author, these are probably the latest representations of sundials known to date from the Late Antiquity. Until this study, only six representations of sundials on mosaics from the Roman period were known. This paper adds three new items and two hypothetical ones from Byzantine times. It also offers an interpretation of the function of the famous column in Jerusalem, shown on the map of Madaba and the mega-vignette of the Holy City.
Key words: Sundials, Sonnenhuhren, Meridiane, Cadrans solaires, Relojes de sol."

The multivarious arrangement of mosaic floor pavements in Greek and Roman houses provides us today with clues as to the presumed function of the rooms they decorated. This is something that Pierre Gros recently evoked in his L'architecture romaine, his excellent synthesis of Roman architecture published in Paris in 2001 by Picard. The architectural layout and decoration, especially the mosaic floors, of the given rooms in the House of Leukaktios in Ptolemais have lent support to this idea, contributing to an understanding of specific purpose and function, which can be deemed as very likely.

Some unpublished documents, relating to the restorations carried out into the church of Santo Stefano at Due Carrare (Padua) during the last two decades of the 19th century, give the opportunity to resume the
study of the marble and mosaic pavements of the church and also shed light on the different and sometimes conflicting criteria and methods that in those years were adopted in the restoration of medieval monuments

"This paper proposes a new identification of a mosaic workshop of Late Antiquity in the Near East. Two mosaic pavements, that is, the mosaic of the Bath of Achilles discovered forty years ago in room 40 of the Villa of Theseus in Nea Paphos, Cyprus, and the renowned representation of the Life of Alexander from the
Villa of Patrikios in Baalbeck, published by M. Chéhab in 1958, display many similarities which leave no doubt that both of them were made by the same mosaic workshop. In the first half of the 5th century, like during the whole Roman period, Cypriot mosaics were closely linked with those of the Syro-Palestinian coastal area. The author suggests also a new date of execution of the mosaic from Baalbeck in the first half of the 5th century."

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