Found within the remains of a luxurious villa during a modern excavation, this splendid 21-by-23-foot mosaic, known as “The Toilet of Venus,” betokens the prosperity and sophistication of Roman Cuicul (modern Djemila), which was founded by the emperor Nerva (reigned 96–98 A.D.) as a colony for army veterans. The town attracted settlers from all over North Africa and in its heyday boasted two forums, baths and a theater seating 3,000. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dating from the late third century A.D., the “Toilet of Venus” mosaic likely depicts the goddess’s birth, which was said to have taken place in the sea; according to one of the Homeric hymns, Aphrodite (Venus’s Greek counterpart) grew from sea foam and was then gently blown to the shore of Cyprus by the west wind. (This myth is also the subject of a famous Renaissance painting, Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.) The Cuicul mosaic portrays Venus sitting in the hollow of a decorated shell, her legs dangling in the waves. The scalloped ridges of the shell are fancifully tipped with small red hearts—reminders of Venus’s role as the goddess of romantic love. To the goddess’s left stands a boy attendant (possibly her son Cupid or Eros), who holds a mirror up to her face. Rising up from the deep, along with an octopus (on the left), a dolphin (in the upper right-hand corner) and other sea creatures, two Tritons or mermen bear the half-shell across the water.
Algeria has a wealth of well-preserved ancient mosaics, not just from Cuicul but from the neighboring Roman-era towns of Tipasa, Thamugadi (modern Timgad) and Sitifis. Many of these are now in the collection of the Museum of Antiquities in Algiers. Few foreigners have had the chance to see them firsthand, however, since Algeria’s civil war broke out in the early 1990s.
Found within the remains of a luxurious villa during a modern excavation, this splendid 21-by-23-foot mosaic, known as “The Toilet of Venus,” betokens the prosperity and sophistication of Roman Cuicul (modern Djemila), which was founded by the emperor Nerva (reigned 96–98 A.D.) as a colony for army veterans. The town attracted settlers from all over North Africa and in its heyday boasted two forums, baths and a theater seating 3,000. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Dating from the late third century A.D., the “Toilet of Venus” mosaic likely depicts the goddess’s birth, which was said […]
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