ASSAF PERETZ, COURTESY OF THE ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY

CHAPEL MOSAICS. The church’s southern side chapel, composed of a sanctuary and a bema, is paved with multiple elaborate mosaics. The sanctuary’s mosaic depicts leaves, pomegranates, and birds, surrounded by a bow-and-dart border. The mosaic pavement of the bema shows amphorae and an eagle within a floral wreath. Above the eagle is an inscription reading XC NIKA, which is short for Χρɩστòς νɩκᾷ, or “Christ conquers.”