Fifty years after it was first discovered, a 53-by-48-foot mosaic that graces the floor of a late Byzantine-era villa
at Caesarea is finally being restored. The magnificent mosaic features 120 medallions containing flamingos, peacocks, ducks
and a border of other wild animals in hunting scenes and intricate geometrical designs. Because of the medallions the mosaic
has become known as the “Bird Mosaic.”
The public will have full access to the mosaic and for the first time will even be able to walk along a restored mosaic
floor, said Yosef Porath, Caesarea excavations director. “Originally what was the purpose of the floor? To be walked
on,” he said, noting that the mosaic had been restored and reinforced where needed.
The mosaic was part of an open-air courtyard entrance to a luxurious mansion, which Porath dates to the late sixth or
early seventh century A.D.
Parts of the mosaic were first unearthed in the 1950s by archaeologist Shmuel Yeivin, the first director of what is
today the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), but were then re-covered. The Byzantine-era villa,
which has been described by archaeologists as the most impressive ever to be discovered in Israel, and its mosaic are
located on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean and cover about a quarter of an acre.
In 2004 the IAA decided to uncover the find and conducted a week-long excavation led by Porath
and Peter Gendelman. When the IAA announced that it had no funds for further work, the Caesarea
Development Corporation stepped in with approximately $150,000 to pay for the restoration and conservation of the mosaic
floor, as well as to prepare the site for tourists.
The villa was located outside the city walls, and though no inscriptions were found to indicate who the inhabitants
were, Porath said it was clear they were a very wealthy family and part of the city’s elite. The motifs on the mosaic
led the archaeologists to believe that the inhabitants, though most probably secular, were Christians, Porath added.
The villa includes the hall in which the mosaic was found, pillars, a courtyard and a second floor that also included a
mosaic floor, pieces of which were found on the first floor.
The finds also point to an elaborate water and drainage system, with sloping floors and water channels.
The villa was abandoned, pillaged and then burned during the Muslim conquest in the seventh century, said Porath.
The excavators also discovered a rare glass table. It is rounded on one side and inlaid with gold-encrusted glass
platelets in various shapes, including squares, rectangles and right triangles. The glass is about .12 inches (3 mm) thick
and is covered by a thin layer of gold that is in turn covered by a thin layer of transparent glass about .04 inches (1 mm)
thick. Each glass platelet has a flower or cross stamped into it. The border of the table is made of alternating gold-glass
and greenish glass.
While marble tables with a similar shape have been found in the past, no glass tables with a decorative design such as
this one has been found, said Jacques Neguer, a conservation specialist for the IAA. A very advanced
technique was used to produce the table, Neguer added, and required reheating glass in order to form the protective cover
over the gold layer.
Archaeologists are not sure where the table was produced but believe it was made either in Alexandria or in Italy and
not in a local factory.
The table was a very expensive piece even in its time, and today it is “priceless,” Neguer said.
For now, two conservators will continue their work on the table at the IAA labs, and restoration
could take up to half a year, according to Neguer. When completed, a decision will have to be made regarding which museum
will display it.—Judith Sudilovsky, Jerusalem
Fifty years after it was first discovered, a 53-by-48-foot mosaic that graces the floor of a late Byzantine-era villa
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