See the largest mosaic floor ever discovered in Israel. Hear from Jacques Neguer, head of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Art Conservation Branch, and local curators about this stunning 4th-century find in the town of Lod.

Reception to follow lecture.

The Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel

Discovery and Context

During highway construction at Lod (formerly Lydda) in 1996, a series of mosaic floors that measured approximately 50 feet long by 27 feet wide was uncovered. Debris covering the floors contained pottery and coins of the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, suggesting that the mosaics were laid about AD 300. The large rooms in which the mosaics were laid probably belonged to a private house and served as a series of reception or audience halls where visitors were met and entertained. The mud brick walls, once covered with frescoes, had collapsed onto and so preserved the mosaics. The plan of the entire complex has yet to be determined since excavations are on-going and have recently revealed yet more mosaic floors.

Description

The mosaic is of exceptional quality and in an excellent state of conservation. The main panel is divided up into a series of smaller squares and triangles by an interlocking cable pattern, forming an outer polygon of twelve sides and sixteen square and triangular segments in which various birds, fish, and animals are depicted. These surround a larger octagonal space populated by ferocious wild animals—a lion and lioness, an elephant, a giraffe, a rhinoceros, a tiger, and a wild bull—with a mountainous landscape in the background. The marine panel faces the same way as the main scene of the central panel, implying that the principal access to the room was from the south. Here however the entire space is filled by a lively scene of fish, dolphins, and shells, together with two merchant ships facing in opposite directions, one shown with billowing sails, the other with its mast and sails lowered. The juxtaposition of an animal hunting panel and a marine scene, combined with the lack of human figures on any of the floors, makes the Lod Mosaic both unusual and intriguing. Because the mosaic’s imagery has no overt religious content, it cannot be determined whether the owner was a pagan, a Jew, or even a Christian. It is certain however that he was a wealthy local resident who wished to have his home decorated in the finest Roman style.

The museum will be closed, so use Terrace entrance on north side of the building.

Supported by a grant from the Helen Diller Family Foundation, a Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Endowment Fund, and by the Ancient Art Council of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.