2021 Sayı 14

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11452/27475

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Browsing by Author "Habas, Lihi"

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    The mosaic floors of the house of Kyrios Leontis in Nysa Scythopolis (Beth Shean)
    (Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi, 2021-08-11) Habas, Lihi
    The House of Kyrios Leontis in Nysa Scythopolis (Beth-Shean) was partially excavated by two expeditions and at different times, and the mosaic floors have been published only in preliminary publications. Two halls were discovered in the complex. The first hall is decorated with a mosaic pavement of three panels: the Homeric story of Odysseus and the Sirens; beribboned parrots surrounding a dedication inscription; the Nile god, Nilometer, the city of Alexandria, and a Nilotic landscape. The second hall served as a prayer room or a small synagogue. A pair of animals decorated the two entrances, and the hall itself is decorated with populated vine scrolls with animals. Jewish ritual objects appear in the central medallion: the seven-branched candlestick, citron, censer, and ram’s horn. The mosaic floors are inlaid with dedication inscriptions in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, with the names of the donors and prayers for the holy congregation. The iconography, incorporating mythological subjects, the god of the Nile and Nilotic landscape, Jewish ritual objects, common animal chase scenes, and the use of the three languages that were customary in Byzantine Palestine, expresses the character of the city of Nysa Scythopolis as a cultural city inhabited by a mixed, well- educated population.