DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32867#0324
292
NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
sented as leaping forward after a deer, the hinder parts of which we were able to see,
though we did not uncover the whole figure: these parts are not shown in the
drawing.
Between the two designs last described, on the west side of the circle, are two
large birds, one of the stork family, the other a long-legged aquatic bird, somewhat
like a crane. The former is executed in black and white, the latter in white, pink, and
green. This completes the design of the field so far as we uncovered it.
The bordcr is divided into two distinct bands, separated from each other and from
the field by narrow bands of white. The innermost band is .80 m. wide, that next
the wall .42 m. wide. The former is composed of a running design representing a
reed-like plant, with stalk, sheath, and flowing leaf, which the artist has convention-
alized by twisting the stem in alternating curves. The spaces between the leaves are
filled with small figures, such as birds, fruits, or simple disks. There is little black in
this border, the portions represented in black in the accompanying drawing being, in
reality, of a very dark brown. The leaves are shaded in colors ranging from deep
red through orange to pale yellow or white. The shading gives depth and rotundity
to these patterns, as it does to the animal figures, and the curved lines in the setting
of the mosaic enhance the flowing effect. The outer band of the border is a simple
pattern of oblique squares in plain black and white, its severe plainness lending a
pleasing contrast to the flamboyant design of the inner band of ornament.
The style of this pavement is rather different from that of any known mosaic, even
of those which have been dated approximately in the same epoch. The purely
secular character of its subject takes it out of that large class of religious mosaics
which date from the end of the fourth century to the close of the Byzantine period,
and places it in a comparatively small class. We have here the advantage of a
definite date given in the inscription, 1 473 a.d. The great mosaic from near Tyre 2
is probably to be dated one hundred years later, although some eminent archaeolo-
gists believe it to be much older. Its decorative, interlacing borders are totally dis-
similar; but the designs include animal figures, though these are treated in a very
different spirit from that of the mosaic of Serdjilla. In the main body of the mosaic
from Tyre the animal groups represent the scenes of the chase; but the figures are
very small and form part of an elaborate arabesque design, being inwrought with
flowing patterns of leaves and flowers. The figure of a bear, and a group repre-
senting a deer attacked by a leopard, are miniature reproductions of the animals
in the Serdjilla mosaic, while the figures in pairs, in the spaces between the columns
of the Tyre mosaic, present similar attitudes; but these designs, being minor inde-
pendent portions of a large scheme of arabesque decoration, can scarcely be com-
pared with the Serdjilla groups, which may be taken as parts of one broad unified
scene. There are here no real divisions bctween the groups, the tree and the rocks
1 Part III, insc. 220.
2 Renan, Mission en Phenicie, texte p. 607, Pl. 49.
NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
sented as leaping forward after a deer, the hinder parts of which we were able to see,
though we did not uncover the whole figure: these parts are not shown in the
drawing.
Between the two designs last described, on the west side of the circle, are two
large birds, one of the stork family, the other a long-legged aquatic bird, somewhat
like a crane. The former is executed in black and white, the latter in white, pink, and
green. This completes the design of the field so far as we uncovered it.
The bordcr is divided into two distinct bands, separated from each other and from
the field by narrow bands of white. The innermost band is .80 m. wide, that next
the wall .42 m. wide. The former is composed of a running design representing a
reed-like plant, with stalk, sheath, and flowing leaf, which the artist has convention-
alized by twisting the stem in alternating curves. The spaces between the leaves are
filled with small figures, such as birds, fruits, or simple disks. There is little black in
this border, the portions represented in black in the accompanying drawing being, in
reality, of a very dark brown. The leaves are shaded in colors ranging from deep
red through orange to pale yellow or white. The shading gives depth and rotundity
to these patterns, as it does to the animal figures, and the curved lines in the setting
of the mosaic enhance the flowing effect. The outer band of the border is a simple
pattern of oblique squares in plain black and white, its severe plainness lending a
pleasing contrast to the flamboyant design of the inner band of ornament.
The style of this pavement is rather different from that of any known mosaic, even
of those which have been dated approximately in the same epoch. The purely
secular character of its subject takes it out of that large class of religious mosaics
which date from the end of the fourth century to the close of the Byzantine period,
and places it in a comparatively small class. We have here the advantage of a
definite date given in the inscription, 1 473 a.d. The great mosaic from near Tyre 2
is probably to be dated one hundred years later, although some eminent archaeolo-
gists believe it to be much older. Its decorative, interlacing borders are totally dis-
similar; but the designs include animal figures, though these are treated in a very
different spirit from that of the mosaic of Serdjilla. In the main body of the mosaic
from Tyre the animal groups represent the scenes of the chase; but the figures are
very small and form part of an elaborate arabesque design, being inwrought with
flowing patterns of leaves and flowers. The figure of a bear, and a group repre-
senting a deer attacked by a leopard, are miniature reproductions of the animals
in the Serdjilla mosaic, while the figures in pairs, in the spaces between the columns
of the Tyre mosaic, present similar attitudes; but these designs, being minor inde-
pendent portions of a large scheme of arabesque decoration, can scarcely be com-
pared with the Serdjilla groups, which may be taken as parts of one broad unified
scene. There are here no real divisions bctween the groups, the tree and the rocks
1 Part III, insc. 220.
2 Renan, Mission en Phenicie, texte p. 607, Pl. 49.