Image Details

Richard Nowitz
Plundered beauty. This lovely mosaic head and bust of Tyche, the goddess of fortune, survived the ravages of centuries intact but could not withstand the rapaciousness of modern-day treasure hunters. In June 1989, thieves working in the night made off with this priceless portrait. Though the original is missing, the Israel Antiquities Authority is completing a reconstruction, based on drawings and photographs, for display on the site.
Located originally on the floor of a small semicircular theater (the odeon) next to the northern corner of the bathhouse, the mosaic shows Tyche wearing a turreted crown and holding a cornucopia. Geometric designs ring the portrait.