Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (14.2002(2003))

PALMYRA

SYRIA

long as the part already opened, if we
assume a symmetry in the mosaic
pattern. It could hardly have been part of
a private house.
The mosaic presents elaborate borders
and geometrical designs, surrounding
rectangular figurative panels, of which
three were cleared. One of them repre-
sents a he-goat standing in front of a tree
(cf. Fig. 9 and cover design), another
features two female griffins resting one
paw on a severed bull's head (Fig. 10), and
still another two panthers flanking
a kantharos (Fig. 11). While it is definitely
too early to risk an interpretation, it
should be pointed out that all the motifs
mentioned above are encountered in
Dionysian iconography.

The workmanship is careful and profes-
sional, the color palette rich, especially in
the animal figures: up to 14 shades of color
could be identified among the tesserae
used. One panel, however, at the southern
end of the mosaic, stands out as fairly
crude, on a background of a different color,
being evidently a reparation; it consists of
two hands with outstretched fingers,
uniformly red, and probably of a magical
significance (cf. Fig. 9, at top, between two
column bases).
This is the first discovery of a mosaic in
Palmyra in sixty years. The last (and only)
time was back in 1941, when the architect
Duru excavated two houses behind the Bel
temple and found several mosaics that are
now on display in the Palmyra Museum.


Fig. 11. Mosaic panel with panthers
(Photo M. Gawlikowski)

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