THE MOSAIC FLOOR
OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
AT TAYIBAT AL-IMAM – HAMAH, IN CENTRAL SYRIA
A. Zaqzuq – M. Piccirillo
The village of Tayibat al-Imam is located a few kilometers to the west of the
highway that links Hamah to Aleppo. A deviation, at the 15th kilometer from
Hamah, leads to the built-up area that develops upon a natural elevation of
the plateau, in its greater part, along the edge of the road that proceeds towards the Orontes valley1. The Antiquities Service of Syria has explored two
Byzantine archaeological sites in the western outskirts of the village2. These
are a country house that develops around a porticoed courtyard set to the
north of the road that crosses the village (Fig. 57-60), and the mosaic floor
of a church lying about 100 m away to the south of the road.
The mosaic is protected by a thick layer of earth and is today enclosed
by a low cement brick wall (Fig. 2). The enclosure, 20 m wide in a northsouth direction and 26 m long in an east-west direction, is flanked on the
east by a narrow village side road, and to the south by a house. On the other
sides, it is isolated in part.
As a result of a minor probe carried out on the mosaic in March 1999,
and a quick survey, we have been able to position both the enclosure and
the mosaic3 (Fig. 1). We were helped in this by the rich photographic
1. The village should be in the territory of the diocese of Epiphaneia-Hamah in Provincia
Syriae Secundae surveyed by J. Lassus, Inventaire archéologique de la région au Nord-Est
de Hama, Damas 1935-36, n. 96, p. 191; see also L. Jalabert - R. Mouterde, Inscriptions
grecques et latines de la Syrie, V, Paris 1959, 7-106.
2. A short report on the discoveries has been published by A. Zaqzuq, “Suwar muqaddasah ‘ala
al-fusayfasa‘ al-muqtashifah fi muhafithah Hamah”,Cahiers Archéologiques Arabes
Syriennes, 1990, 81-85 (in Arabic); Idem, “Nuovi mosaici pavimentali nella regione di Hama”,
in A. Jacobini - E. Zanini (a cura di), Arte profana e arte sacra a Bisanzio (Milion 3, Collana di
studi e ricerche d’arte bizantina diretta da Fernanda de’ Maffei), Roma 1995, 237-256.
3. The team consisted of Arch. Michela Mortensen, Inge and Peder Mortensen, Ingolf Tusen
and Michele Piccirillo, with the collaboration of three workmen of the Antiquities Service
of Hamah. The sketch plan was used as a basis of the project prepared by Arch. Alessandro
Ferrari, a member of the team from the Franciscan Archaeological Institute on Mount Nebo
in Jordan, to preserve the mosaic in situ. A protective roof will also allow it to be visited
eventually by those who, taking advantage of its vicinity to the main road Hamah-Aleppo,
may stop to view it.
LA 49 (1999) 443-464; Pls. 7-36
444
A. ZAQZUQ Ð M. PICCIRILLO
documentation put together by Mr. Zaqzuq at the time of the excavations
in 1985 and 19874.
The presence of the road impedes us from verifying the extension, towards the east, of the church that therefore lacks the raised presbytery area,
which could have easily been destroyed. In practical terms, the eastern enclosure wall is set upon and in line with the step leading to the presbytery.
Also the church does not have a western facade wall. Even on this side,
the enclosure wall must follow the line of the church’s perimeter wall. With
the available data, it is difficult to hypothesize a narthex or atrium on the
facade.
The study will have to be limited to the area that has been photographed, which shows the main body of a three-nave church whose roof
was supported by pilasters set 2 m apart. For a reconstruction of the missing parts we take as an example the Michaelion at Haouarteh that notwithstanding its own characteristics, follows the same constructive and
decorative plan5.
The photographs also show that the mosaic, of which the described
composition forms part, is a remake of a preceding mosaic. This can be
seen from the detail of the two geese turned upside down in the vicinity of
the right edicule. This is another element to keep in mind during a re-examination of the monument.
The Mosaic (Plan 1)
The rich figurative repertoire, in many ways exceptional, for the richness
of its motifs and its antiquity, is inserted in a standard geometric plan
adapted to the distribution of the floor space within the church.
The central nave is surrounded by a simple continuous motif of intersecting and adjacent octagons forming squares at the point of intersection
and hexagons on the sides. It is subdivided into two figured panels which
frame an empty space reserved for the stone U-shaped platform, as in other
churches in central and northern Syria (Fig. 3).
4. The photos have been scanned and used by Gianfranco Micalizzi and Nicoletta Puglisi
to obtain the plan which is presented in this study together with the drawings of the
inscriptions. Bethlehem and Jerusalem, were drawn by S. De Luca.
5. P. et M.T. Canivet, Huarte. Sanctuaire Chrétien d’Apamène (IVe- VIe S.), Paris 1987,
216-221, fig. 67 and 71.
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
445
The Eastern Panel
The quadrangular eastern panel is surrounded by a polychrome braided
round-tongued double guilloche. The figurative motifs develop on three
registers lying within two dedicatory inscriptions in Greek (Figs. 4-5).
The first register contains the architectural representations of Bethlehem and Jerusalem with the addition of two phoenixes with radiated head6,
facing each other on the sides, and two birds. The central register is occupied by three columned edicules, in central plan, alternating with two fantailed peacocks. In the central edicule, covered by a dome from which
hangs a lamp that is set between two lit candelabra placed on the enclosing
banisters, stands a lamb between two tied up curtains. In the two side
edicules, with weathered roof and two candelabra placed on the enclosing
slabs, there are two fountains on pedestal set between two flowering
branches (Figs. 6-7).
In the third register four deer7, alternating with small trees laden with
fruit, drink from the waters of the four rivers of Paradise8. The rivers flow
from high ground, upon which a spread winged eagle is set. Fish and birds
move in the flowing waters created by the four rivers (Fig. 9).
A recent study of the scene has highlighted the theological richness of
the composition inspired by the Book of Revelation9. In the mosaic decorations, found in the apses and triumphal arches of the great basilicas of
6. A. Bisconti, “Aspetti e significati del simbolo della fenice nella letteratura e nell’arte del
Cristianesimo primitivo”, Vetera Christianorum 16, 1979, 21-40. The phoenix bird is
figured in the nave of the Church of Bishop Sergius at Umm al-Rasas (M. Piccirillo - E.
Alliata, Umm al-Rasas - Kastron Mefaa. I. Gli scavi del Complesso di Santo Stefano,
Jerusalem 1994, 132).
7. While two animals are clearly depicted as deer with two elongated horns, the other two
have only one long horn.
8. The Rivers of Paradise are frequently used in the mosaics of the Madaba region: in the
Chapel of the St. Theodore Chapel and in the Church of the Sunna Family at Madaba (M.
Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan, Amman 1993, 117, fig. 112-115; Idem, LA 43 [1993]
277-313, tav. 9), in the Church of St. Sergios and in the Church of St. Paul at Umm alRasas (Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan, 241, fig. 390; Idem, LA 47 [1997] 386, tav. 34),
and in the Theotokos Chapel in Wadi ‘Ayn al-Kanisah on Mount Nebo (Idem,LA 44 [1994]
521-538, tavv. 19-26). The rivers are also depicted near the font in the baptistery chapel of
the church of Jabaliyah-Gaza (J.-B. Humbert, “The Rivers of Paradise in the Byzantine
church near Jabaliyah – Gaza”, in M. Piccirillo - E. Alliata (ed.),The Madaba Map
Centenary 1897-1997, Jerusalem 1999, 216-218). See also H. Maguire, “The Nile and the
Rivers of Paradise”, ibi, 179-184.
9. R. Farioli Campanati, “Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the Iconography of Church Sanctuary
Mosaics”, in Piccirillo - Alliata (ed.),The Madaba Map Centenary, 172-177.
446
A. ZAQZUQ Ð M. PICCIRILLO
Christianity, the subject is well known. It indicates, with the two cities of
Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection, the lamb placed on the paradisiacal
mountain from which flow the four rivers of paradise, an ideal vision of
both the Kingdom of God and the Theophany of Christ, whose light illuminates the world of the redeemed. The faithful, symbolized by the deer or
sheep, quench their thirst with the life giving waters. In this mosaic, the
lamb is placed within the central edicule. Its place on the mountain is taken
by an eagle, which acquires the same significance of symbol of Christ10.
The two cities, used in paleo-Christian art to signify the New World
created by God and enlightened by the teaching of Christ, are normally
found on wall mosaics11. Extraordinarily, they appear in a floor mosaic in
the church at Tayyibat al-Imam.
The Syrian Throne
The throne, the word with which the U-shaped platform is referred to in
inscription 4, is set in the centre of the nave. It is framed, on its sides by
two rectangular panels containing a motif of adjacent squares forming rectangles and smaller squares laden with yet smaller squares and diamonds.
Birds facing a flower are represented in the two mosaiced western corners
of the U-shaped throne’s frame. There are two birds in the south and one
in the north corner (Figs. 13-14).
The Western Panel
The western panel reaches the facade door from which it is separated by
the motif that surrounds the whole of the central nave.
The basic geometric composition of the decorative programme is developed on a grid of crosses bordered by coupled parallelograms and adjacent octagons forming squares. The crosses are formed at the intersection
points (Fig. 10).
10. See Farioli Campanati, “Jerusalem and Bethlehem”, 174. The winged eagle as a
Christological symbol is figured in the Church of Deacon Thomas in the ‘Uyun Musa Valley
on Mount Nebo (Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan, 185, fig. 259).
11. See Farioli Campanati, ÒJerusalem and BethlehemÓ, 173 with related bibliography in
the footnotes nos. 1-9.
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
447
The composition can be broken down into four superimposed registers,
alternately made up of two crosses and a central octagon, or two octagons
and a central square.
The two crosses of the first register show a repeated motif of three birds
drinking from a fountain on pedestal inserted between tufts of flowers (Fig.
11). There are two pheasants and a palmipede in the first cross and three
doves in the second. The central octagon is decorated with a medallion containing a dedicatory inscription in Greek with an overhanging crown and
lemnisci. Two isolated birds and a peacock set amongst tufts of flowers
decorate the two squares at the corners and the rectangle that finish off the
composition on the eastern side of the carpet. The remaining geometric
compositions are decorated with motifs taken from the geometric repertoire
using the rainbow technique.
Three edifices decorate both the octagons and the central square of the
second register, which is closed off by two rectangles, set lengthwise, in each
of which there develops a Nilotic scene. Four palmipedes among tufts of
flowers on the left, and two darting fish facing a flower on the right (Fig. 17).
The motif showing a fountain on a high pedestal between shrubs is repeated in both crosses in the third register. The left cross shows two peacocks drinking from the fountain’s cup. The right one shows the fountain
full of water set between two crouched sheep, and a phoenix, with radiated
head set between shrubs, above it (Fig. 12). An edifice decorates the medallion inserted in the central octagon.
Three other buildings are represented in the two octagons and the square
of the fourth register. On the sides, in the two closing rectangles set lengthwise, the motif showing two facing fish is repeated in the left rectangle (Figs.
15-16). The right rectangle shows a caravan of harnessed camels leaving a
building and moving in the direction of the church’s door12 (Fig. 17).
In its greater part, the fifth register is destroyed. Notwithstanding, one
can identify the repeated motif of the fountains within the crosses and the
representation of an edifice in the central octagon. Above the fountainÕs
cup, in the left cross, there remains a standing fawn with his head turned
inside. A palmipede, in the same position, is shown at the right hand cross.
12. A similar scene decorated the nave of the church of St. George at Deir al-Adas,
presently exhibited in the Bostra Theatre (R. Farioli Campanati, “Il mosaico pavimentale di
epoca umayyade della chiesa di S. Giorgio nel Deir al-Adas”, in Jacobini - Zanini, Arte
profana e arte sacra a Bisanzio, 257-269, fig. 6). The mosaic floor of the church has been
published also by P. Donceel-Vožte, Les pavements des églises byzantines de Syrie et du
Liban. Décor, archéologie et liturgie, Louvain-la-Neuve 1988, 45-54.
448
A. ZAQZUQ Ð M. PICCIRILLO
The Northern Intercolumns
Simple geometric motifs are repeated in the four intercolumnar spaces to
the North. There are fields of flowers with their buds turned upwards or to
the side, a grid of rhombi laden with small squares, a series of corollae, set
at right angles forming squares within which there are tufts of flowers. The
central intercolumnar space is of special interest with its floral motif interrupted twice by a line.
The Southern Intercolumns
Opposed to the northern intercolumns, the ones on the south are rich in figurative motifs. The scenes have a movement from the east towards the west. In
the partially destroyed first panel there is a dog chasing a hare, a shrub separates the animals. The second panel is decorated with a Nilotic scene containing a series of geese and ducks alternated with nilombi (Fig. 17). Two geese
wrestle with a serpent that manages to wriggle away. The third panel shows
yet another dog chasing a fox (Figs. 18-19). The chase is set between a building with an adjacent column and a shrub. The fourth panel again presents geese
alternated with shrubs. One of the geese wrestles with a serpent.
The Northern Nave
The decorative programme in both lateral naves has the same common
plan. A wide internal band closed externally by a smaller band of braided
octagons forming hexagons and squares surrounds the central figured
scene. The internal band in the northern nave is made up of a chain with
knotted lozenges and circles set at a tangent.
The figurative motif unfolds with an east to west movement. It starts
from a city arch interwoven with tree branches. In the intervening space
between the arch and the east side of the band there is a two-handled amphora on pedestal, and a dedicatory inscription (Fig. 39).
Starting from the arch, two richly harnessed mules holding up a litter
move towards a group of buildings, a city or a sanctuary. The same scene
at the Michaelion at Haouarteh is interpreted as the transportation of relics13 (Fig. 24-25).
13. P. et M.T. Canivet, Huarte. Sanctuaire Chrétien d’Apamène. The same scene has been
figured in the nave of the Church of the Priest Wa’il at Umm al-Rasas in Jordan; cf. M.
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
449
A lioness runs after a wild-ass. The two beasts are separated by a tree and
are included in a repeated motif made of scales, indicating a mountainous
region. A building is added to the mountain on the right (Figs. 21-23).
A second inscription divides the preceding scene from the following
hunting scene, which is introduced by a polygonal motif, which is not properly identifiable. A spotted leopard chases a horned ram among shrubs (Fig.
35). The scene closes with two sheep, one shown standing and nibbling,
the other crouched (Fig. 20).
The Southern Nave
The figurative motif that unwinds in a west east direction, as a continuation of the scene in the preceding nave, starting from a building enclosed
between two cypress trees, is surrounded by a band of acanthus animated
by birds and isolated still-life motifs (Fig. 26-28; 30-32).
A spotted leopard chases a deer that is preceded in its escape by a gazelle (Fig. 34). A bear, starting off from a tree is shown leaping after a
frightened ostrich fluttering its wings. After another tree, followed by a
heap of white round objects which can be identified with the eggs of the
ostrich, a running lioness confronts itself with a bull depicted in an attacking stance (Fig. 29). These are followed with a lioness that has pawed a
gazelle. Following a tree, a medallion containing a dedicatory inscription,
after which there is a breach in the mosaic, interrupts the scene. A wild
beast chases a wild ass, the animals separated by a tree, with the addition
of a bird on high, close to the foliage.
The Inscriptions
Six well preserved Greek inscriptions accompany the decorative programme, three in the central nave, two in the northern nave and one in the
southern nave. Apart from these we find the names which identify the vignettes of the two polygonal cities and the four rivers which flow from the
mountain of Paradise.
Piccirillo, “La chiesa del Prete Wa’il a Umm al-Rasas – Kastron Mefaa in Giordania”, in F.
Manns - E. Alliata (ed. by), Early Christianity in Context. Monuments and Documents,
Jerusalem 1993, 325, fig. 28.
450
A. ZAQZUQ Ð M. PICCIRILLO
1. The inscription is set close to the east side of the eastern panel, in
the central nave. The dedicatory inscription set on five lines is inserted in a
tabula ansata. The letters in black tesserae are 5 cm high. At least three lines
have been affected by the breach at the centre of the inscription. This has
not impaired their meaning (Fig. 36).
Epi« touv agiota¿tou kai« qeofilesta¿tou e˙pisko/pou
hJmw◊n Do/mnou kai« touv eujlabesta¿tou presbute÷rou
kai« periodeu/tou ∆Ep(i)fªani÷ou kaºi« tªou eujºlabesta¿tou presbute÷rou Oujlale÷ntoß e˙ªteliw¿qh oJ naºo\ç kai« e˙yhfw¿qh
mhni« Di÷wØ touv DNY e˙ªt(ouç) spoudhˆv ... pistwªtouº uJpodia¿k(onoß)
At the time of our most holy and God-loving bishop Domnos and the
most pious priest and periodeutes (visitor) Epiphanius, and of the most pious priest Valens (the temple was built) or (the holy place was terminated)
and was paved with mosaics in the month of Dios of the year 754 (447 AD)
(by one son of Theo)pistos the underdeacon.
The mosaic was laid in 447 AD, the date to which the year 754 refers
to, calculating according to the Seleucide calendar in use in the EpifaniaHamah region, at the time of Bishop Domnos. To date this bishop was unknown to the list of the city’s bishops, which includes various names14. The
visiting priest who acted in the bishop’s stead was called Epiphanius, the
priest who took care of the church Valens. The destroyed text can be integrated with e˙kti÷sqh oJ a‚gioß to/poß or e˙teliw¿qh oJ nao/ß.
2. The inscription, in a tabula ansata, is set on the current of water that
flows from the paradisiacal mountain, on the west side of the eastern panel.
The letters are 5 cm high (Fig. 37).
14. According to the lists available in R. Devreesse, Le Patriarcat d’Anioche depuis la paix
de l’eglise jusq’à la conquête arabe, Paris 1945, 182; and in G. Fedalto, Hierarchia
Ecclesiastica Orientalis, II, 778, no. 72.4.3. Bishop Domnos should be positioned between
Stephanus (445) and Eutychianus (451). We thank Leah Di Segni for her useful suggestions.
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
451
∆Alexa¿ndra eujxame÷nh
a‚ma Qeodosi÷ou kai« Pro
mw¿tw kai« Karthri÷hß kai«
panto\ß touv oi•kou auj
thvß e˙yh/fwsen to\
prothsko/nchç
Alexandra with Theodose and Promotos and Kartiria and all her
household (whole house), in vow, paved with mosaic (the area) in front of
the apse.
The names of the benefactors are not very common. An interesting detail is the fact that they financed the mosaic of the panel containing the inscription. This is the area “in front of the apse”, presumably the word used
by the writer to indicate that part of the central nave in front of the raised
apsed presbytery.
3. The names of the two polygonal cities and the Rivers (Fig. 36; 42-43).
+ BHTLEEM
EI EROUS (ALEM)
Bethlehem – Jerusalem
452
A. ZAQZUQ Ð M. PICCIRILLO
FISWN GHWN TIGRIS EUFRATHS
Phison; Gheon; Tigris; Euphrates (Fig. 37)
The names accompany the vignettes of the two polygonal cities and the
four rivers that flow from the mountain of Paradise. The iotacism used for
the name Jerusalem is interesting. The city is normally called Ierousalem,
as it is in the Madaba Mosaic Map15.
4. The inscription occupies the central octagon of the first register in
the western panel of the central nave. The first lines had been badly restored. The text is introduced by a crown with lemnisci. The letters, rendered in black tesserae, are 6 cm high (Fig. 38).
ARA OQ L SIOU (Qeodosi÷ou)
eujxame÷noß a‚ma sumbi÷wØ kai« te÷knoiß
e˙yh/fwsen to\ ojpi÷ssou touv qro/nou
......of Theodose praying God with (his) wife and sons paved with
mosaics (the area) behind the throne.
15. Piccirillo - Alliata, The Madaba Map Centenary, 70 and 198.
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
453
The inscription provides a further interesting element with regard to the
liturgical furniture of the church. The area “behind the throne” evidently
refers to the mosaic in which the inscription is found. Therefore the word
“throne” is intended to mean the raised so-called Òbema/exedraÓ at the centre of the nave. The same word written in syriac was found carved on the
eastern chancel of the “bema” in the church of Zebed16. Butler was the first
to record the raised U-shaped platform in the centre of some churches in
northern Syria calling it an exedra17. Ever since, the archaeologists and
liturgists have discussed its usage referring to it mostly as “Syrian bema”
or “ambo/bema”, a term borrowed from Nestorian liturgy 18. The inscription
invites us to call this structure, the use of which is still being discussed,
“throne”. From research that still has to be finalized, it results that this is
the first time that the word is found in a Greek inscription in the churches
of central and northern Syria.
We limit ourselves to the quotation of a text found in the Ecclesiastic
History by Eusebius (VII, 30, 9), in which the terms bema and throne are
used together. Eusebius quotes a letter written, by the bishops meeting in
Synod at Antioch, against Paul from Samosata: “It is not even our duty to
examine the ambitious vanity of whom, in the church’s assemblies, aimed
at nothing else but vain glory and pomp, at impressing inexpert souls with
such cunning. Who has had prepared for himself a court and raised throne
(bhvma me«n kai« qro/non uJyelo\n e˚autw◊ˆ kataskeuasa¿menoß), the like of
which a disciple of Christ should not have …”.
Without resolving the problem of its liturgical use and less still of its
characteristic structure at the centre of the nave, the inscription in the
church at Tayibat al-Imam gives it a name that is usually given the bishop’s
16. H.C. Butler, Early Churches in Syria, Princeton 1920, 217, fig. 217. See also, G.
Tchalenko, Eglises de village de la Syrie du Nord, Paris 1979-1980, pl. 558.
17. H.C. Butler, Syria. Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to
Syria in 1904-5 and 1909, Division II, Section B, Architecture, Leyden 1920, 317; Idem, Early
Churches in Syria, 214-215: “The exedra consists of a semicircular wall which is situated opposite
to the apse, in the main aisle, a little west of the middle of the church”; J. Lassus - G. Tchalenko,
“Ambons syriens,”Cahiers Archéologiques V (1951) 75-122; J. Lassus, Sanctuaires chrétiens
de Syrie, Paris 1947, 207-212; J. Lassus, “Les exèdres dans les Églises de la Syrie du Nord”, in
Actes VIe Congr. Int. Études Byz. Paris 1948, tome 2, Paris 1950, pp. 233-242.
18. For a detailed summary of the discussion, see P. Castellana, “Note sul bema della Siria
Settentrionale”, Studia Orientalia Christiana. Collectanea 25 (1992) 89-100, with an
updated bibliography on the subject. See also the discussion in Donceel-Voûte, Les
pavements des églises byzantines, 511-525. The Greek inscription of the upper mosaic floor
(756 AD) on the sides of the altar in the presbytery of the Church of St. Stephan at Umm
al-Rasas, calls bema the raised area where the altar stands (e˙kwsmh/qh hJ yi÷fosiß touv a‚gi÷ou
bi÷matoß touvtou); see Piccirillo Ð Alliata, Umm al-Rasas, 242.
454
A. ZAQZUQ Ð M. PICCIRILLO
Episcopal chair, or to the chair of the presiding celebrant19. In symbolic
iconography the throne is used to hold the book of the Gospels.
5. The inscription introduces the decoration of the north nave, within
the band. The letters, set in red tesserae, are 5 cm high (Fig. 39).
Ku/rie Criste« Eihsouv mnh/sqhti tw◊n
karpoforhsa¿ntwn
kai« kamo/ntwn ei˙ß to\n
a‚gion oi•kon souv
O Lord Christ Jesus remember those who have offered and who have
laboured for this holy house of Yours.
Apart from the unusual transposition of the name Jesus after Christ, the
inscription repeats the normal invocation in favour of the benefactors and
of all those who had taken care to have the church built and decorated.
6. The inscription occupies the central part of the hunting scene that
decorates the north nave. The letters, set in red tesserae, are 6 cm high
(Fig.40).
Ku/rie mnh/sqhti thvß doªuvl hºß souv Qia
s h∞ç to\ o¢nomoªmº
a ginw¿skiß
O Lord remember your servant Thia whose name You know.
The name is not so common but already known.
19. As regards the bishop’s throne, the rethor Chorikios writes, referring to the church of
St. George at Gaza: “To the east the wall caves in to form an apse, it is usual that the bishop
sits there. Even Tessalia has placed herself at the service of the temple, having procured
columns and slabs for the venerable place that the ritual requires that the bishop sits” (RB
1931, p. 16).
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
455
7. The inscription, set in a medallion and badly restored in its missing
parts, is inserted at the centre of the hunting scene in the south nave. The
letters, set in black tesserae, are 6 cm high (Fig. 41).
C A RE IS
E P T S T (eujxa¿me) noß a‚
ma sunbi÷wØ kai« te÷
knwn th\n stoa»n
tw◊n agi÷wn martu/rwn e˙yh/fwsen kai« e˙ko/smhsen
(…) praying God with his wife and his sons the stoa of the Holy Martyrs paved with mosaics and beautified.
Evidently the writer of the inscription, when using the word stoa»n
(portico), meant the southern nave within the church, where the inscription
was written. The title ‘of the Holy Martyrs’, referring here to the southern
nave, could also be extended to the whole church in view of the fact that it
is not mentioned in the other inscriptions.
The Architectural Representations
The decorative programme in the church at Tayyibat al-Imam, for many reasons unique among the mosaics in Syrian churches, is conspicuous also for
the richness of the architectural representations it presents. These put this
mosaic at par with the band in the church of Dafneh at Antioch20 and the
cycles discovered in Jordan, such as in the church of Saint John at Jerash21,
in the Acropolis at Ma‘in22 and in the church of Saint Stephan at Umm al20. ÒYakto Complex, Upper Level. The Topographical BorderÓ, in D. Levi,The Antioch
Mosaic Pavements, Princeton 1947, 326-337, Pl. LXXIX-LXXX.
21. Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan, 273, 286-289.
22. Piccirillo, The Mosaics of Jordan, 196-203.
456
A. ZAQZUQ Ð M. PICCIRILLO
Rasas23. There is one important difference. The date of this mosaic places it
one or two hundred years prior to the latter works, together with the recently
discovered vignette in the Cathedral of Homs (Fig. 57).23a
There remain 20 architectural representations in this mosaic. These are
thus distributed: 5 in the eastern panel of the central nave, 9 in the western
panel of the same nave, one in the south intercolumnar space, 4 in the
northern nave, to which we have added the tabernacle being transported by
the two mules and a last one in the southern nave.
1-5. The Eastern Panel in the Central Nave
The cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem are rendered according to the polygonal city plan established in the Hellenistic-Roman tradition24. The motif showing a columned edicule, repeated three times in this panel, is
commoner in the mosaics found in Syria.
1. Bethlehem (Fig. 42)
The small town, identified by the name in Greek written above it on either side of the cross set on the fastigium, is rendered in bird’s eye view.
The vignette shows the polygonal walls with four round corner-towers
having weathered roofs. The stonework of the wall face is very much in
evidence. The great arched door, set in the middle of the wall, is open
showing a hanging tied up curtain. Inside the walls there is a church having weathered roof, an oculus in its tympanum and an arched doorway on
the facade, from which hangs a tied curtain. In the vertical section of the
church it is possible to see the inside with tied up curtains hanging between the columns25.
23. Ibi, 218-239; Piccirillo - Alliata, Umm al-Rasas, 134ff.
23a.N. Saliby - M. Griesheimer, “Un Martyrium octogonal découvert à Homs (Syrie) en 1988
et sa mosaïque”,Antiquité tardive 7 (1999) 383-400. Avec une note additionelle par N. Duval.
24. For a general discussion on the architectural representations, see N. Duval,
“L’iconografia architettonica nei mosaici di Giordania”, in M. Piccirillo I, mosaici di
Giordania, Roma 1986, 151-156; Idem, “Le rappresentazioni architettoniche”, in Piccirillo
- Alliata, Umm al-Rasas, 165-230; Idem, “Essai sur la signification des vignettes
topographiques”, in Piccirillo - Alliata,The Madaba Map Centenary, 134-146.
25. In the Madaba Map, to the name Bethlehem (Bhqleem) is added a church with a tower
on the southern side (see Piccirillo - Alliata, The Madaba Map Centenary, 74, no. 72).
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
457
2. Jerusalem (Fig. 43)
The partially destroyed writing in Greek on either side of the cross on the
fastigium identifies the city. The vignette repeats the preceding plan of a
city inserted among cypress trees, with polygonal walls, towers and an
arched door. Inside the walls there rises a basilica with weathered roof and
a tied curtain on the door. The superimposed double series of three arched
windows with the oculus of the tympanum and the cross on the highest
point of the clerestory are very evident, as is the row of three arched windows of the southern nave. At the back there remains part of the masonry
that can be identified as being the apse or a tower26.
3-5. The three Columned Edicules (Fig. 5 and 6-7)
The two fountains on pedestal and the lamb are inserted in three polygonal
edicules. The two lateral edicules have a weathered roof while the central
one is domed. All three have a feather set at their fastigium and are supported by small columns whose bases and capitals are well defined. Chancel slabs and balustrades close the spaces between the small columns
except for the central passage. The central edicule also has tied up curtains
hanging from high.
6-14. The Western Panel in the Central Nave
Eight of the edifices that decorate the western panel in the central nave can
be identified as being churches, according to a convention that is repeated
in the mosaics of the region up to the eight century. The novelty in these
buildings is principally the typological richness of the vignettes. The ninth
building, from which the caravan of camels starts off, seems to move away
from this plan.
26. The vignette of Tayyibat al-Imam follows the discovery of “The Holy City of
Jerusalem” in the Madaba Map (see Piccirillo - Alliata, The Madaba Map Centenary, 70,
no. 56), and “The Holy City” in the Church of St. Stephan at Umm al-Rasas at the top of
the Palestinian Cities (see Piccirillo - Alliata, Umm al-Rasas, 134 ff; Duval, ÒLe
rappresentazioni architettonicheÓ, 177).
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6. Edifice among Trees (Fig. 44)
The series of representations in the second register starts with a building
set in a medallion. It seems to be a church, having a central plan with a
double arched entrance; a dome finished off with a decoration and having
a drum and windows. The ambulatory, two side apses as well as two towers all have slanting weathered roofs. The large windows of the dome, the
windows in the apses and above the doors are very much in evidence.
Through the two front doors there are tied-up curtains hanging from an arbour (lintel?) having a cross at its centre. The cross is also noticeable above
the arch of the central window of the drum.
7. The Edifice with Narthex (Fig. 45)
The central square of the second register, surrounded by a fluted ribbon,
is occupied by a building having a narthex on the facade and a double
portal on the south. The basilical church is seen from the southwest. This
view gives pre-eminence to the porticoed facade narthex supported by
columns and covered by a tiled roof. Lamps that hang from an arbour
(lintel) set at the level of the capitals light the portico. The lamp in the
central arch hangs from the centre of the arch, while a tied-up curtain
hangs from the arbour. Behind these rises the church’s tympanum having
a window with three lights and a cross on its apex. This is repeated to the
east at the end of the weathered roof, which is flanked by two towers that
also have a slanting weathered roof. Upon the church’s wall face there
can be clearly seen the double row of high windows of the clerestory,
and of the southern nave below, the latter preceded by a double roofed
portal. In both doors hangs a tied-up curtain. Represented in its entirety,
the southern tower is five floors high. Four of the floors are each illuminated and aired by a window.
8. Apsed Edifice (Fig. 46)
The building, set among trees, is inserted in a medallion within the second
octagon of the second register. The church, with its partly damaged facade,
is seen from the southwest giving importance to the facade with its rectangular door and arched window, and the apse with its window and tiled
semi-dome. An oculus decorates the centre of the church’s tympanum.
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
459
Three arched windows are shown high on the southern wall. The masonry
work on the face of this wall is very emphasized.
9. The Cross-shaped Building (Fig. 47)
The partially damaged cross-shaped edifice is inserted within a medallion
that occupies the central octagon in the third register. Four halls, each with
an autonomous facade and a row of high windows converge to the centre.
The central dome with windowed drum and slanting roof, carrying a cross
on its fastigium, connects the four halls. The cross set on the highest point
of the facade is repeated on the three tympani, lit by a window, of the halls.
The four halls have a slanting weathered roof and a rectangular door on
their facade.
10. Basilical Edifice (Fig. 48)
The building, inserted in a medallion occupies the first octagon of the
fourth register. Unlike the buildings seen up to this point, this is viewed
from the northwest, highlighting the facade and the north wall. The
mosaicist has underlined the central nave with its weathered roof, the row
of high windows of the clerestory, the rectangular facade door with the tied
up curtain and the two high arched windows together with the tympanum
window. A door to the north, set in the centre of the wall and a second entrance on the facade allowed entry to the northern nave that is lit up by a
row of arched windows, and has a weathered roof. The building had three
facade doors as can be seen from the added south nave door.
11. Edifice with Front Atrium (Fig. 49)
The partially damaged building, which occupies the central square of the
fourth register that is surrounded by a fluted ribbon, is characterized by
a columned atrium on its front. The edifice with a cross placed on the
front fastigium is a basilical building seen from the southwest. The view
highlights its south side with a weathered roof, the large windows in the
clerestory and the windows in the corresponding wall of the southern
nave that also has a slanting weathered roof. Notwithstanding the missing mosaic, there remain visible the base of the pointed tower and a hint
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of the apsidal calotte. On the top part of the clerestory, the mosaicist
noted a decoration of serrated triangles. At the southwest corner of the
roof he added the outline of an arched window, a sort of dormer window. This is repeated, nearly in mid air, in the vicinity of the north west
arris of the tympanum, between the tree and the facade extending towards the north and abruptly interrupted. Of the facade we can see the
row of high large windows together with the tympanum with its two
windows and oculus.
The quadrangular atrium, seen in bird’s eye view, is rendered with two
columned wings (east and south), having a weathered roofing, the roof of
the north wing and the external facade with two large roofed doors with
tympanum.
12. Central Plan Edifice with Four Towers (Fig. 50)
This edifice is damaged in its greater part. It occupies the right octagon of
the fourth register. There remain visible the four pointed towers, the cone
shaped cupola with the cross on its fastigium, which develops from a
windowed drum. There are hung tied up curtains in the two visible entrances in the lower part of the vignette.
13. Single-roomed Building (Fig. 17 and 52)
The edifice forms part of the scene depicting the caravan of two camels in
the closing rectangle of the fourth register. The building is viewed from the
south west, highlighting the masonry work of the south wall with its high
windows and weathered roof, the facade with the tall rectangular door, a
window and the oculus in the tympanum closed off by an element on the
fastigium.
14. Fragment of an Edifice with a central plan (Fig. 51)
The very damaged edifice, set amongst trees, occupies the central octagon of the fifth register. There remain a central dome rising upon a
windowed drum that has a cross on its fastigium, and the upper part of a
hall with clerestory windows, tympanum with oculus and the upper part
of the facade door. One can hypothesize this building as a repetition of
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
461
the cross-shaped edifice in the third register, except for the peculiar metalsheeted dome.
15-18. The Northern Nave
Apart from the triumphal arch and the architectonic buildings, we insert
here also the ark/reliquary transported by the two mules.
15. City Gate or Triumphal Arch (Fig. 53)
The high arched door set between two double towers is the starting point
of the transportation of the reliquary in the northern nave. The door and
the couple of double towers are decorated at the summit with a repeated
motif of serrated triangles following a break line in white tesserae.
16. Ark/Reliquary (Fig. 24-25)
The two richly harnessed mules are transporting a litter upon which there
is a small box that probably refers to the reliquaries found in Syrian
churches. The box has a round top, which the mosaicist indicates as a lid,
separating it from the lower part of the box by a line of white tesserae. On
the shown side of the box, one can see a small central rectangular opening
rendered in dark tesserae, set between two linear motifs in red tesserae that
have a base and a semicircular element at the top rendered in light coloured
tesserae.
17. Building Complex (Fig. 54-55)
The two mules with their burden move towards a complex of buildings that
have a unifying wall, with highlighted masonry face, at their base. The
complex is made of four superimposed halls of which three have the same
characteristics: the facade with a tall rectangular door, a jutting tympanum
with quadrangular oculus, windows on the walls and weathered roof. The
fourth hall is different having the window above the door facing to the left
and a decorative serrated line at the end of its weathered roof. The facades
of the other three halls face to the right. There follows a polygonal edifice
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having a central plan, with a slanting cupola that starts off from a series of
windows. The dome is flanked by two quadrangular towers, with windows
on the second and third floors, and finished off with a motif of serrated triangles.
Continuing, after the second tower, there follows an open columned
hall with a weathered roof the facade of which is made up of a large arched
doorway with tympanum closed off with a cross on high.
Hypothetically we can reconstruct a cross-shaped church with the four
disordered halls, with the addition of an atrium, or alternatively a church
in central plan (columned hall, dome, and two towers) within a built up area
(the four jumbled halls).
18. Edifice set on high ground (Fig. 55)
The single hall building viewed from the northwest repeats the usual plan:
door on the facade with tympanum and oculus, slanting roof and a series
of high windows on the wall face.
19-20. From the Southern Intercolumnar Space and the South Nave
19. Building close to a Column in the Southern Intercolumnar Space
(Fig. 19)
The edifice introduces the hunting scene in the third south intercolumnar
space. It is a single hall building and follows the usual plan: facade with
tall rectangular door, window and tympanum with oculus, weathered roof
with a motif at the fastigium and a series of high windows. The wall face
is rendered very carefully and meticulously.
Behind the building, rises a column on a plinth with a globe placed on
the capital. This motif is already known in the vignette of Jerusalem in the
Madaba Map, and in the vignettes showing Kastron Mefaa both in the
church of Saint Stephen, and in the church of the Lions at Umm al-Rasas
in Jordan. Here a cross replaces the globe27.
27. Duval, “Le rappresentazioni architettoniche”, in Piccirillo - Alliata,Umm al-Rasas, 167-
171. For the column in the Jerusalem vignette of the Madaba Map, see W. Pullan, ÒThe
Representation of the Late Antique City in the Madaba MapÓ, in Piccirillo - Alliata, The
Madaba Map Centenary, 168f.
THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYRS
463
20. Apsed Basilical Edifice in the South Nave (Fig. 56)
The partially damaged building, set amongst trees, is the starting point
of the hunting scene in the southern nave. The church is viewed from
the north with a distortion that allows us to see its facade. There remains
a fractional detail of the door in the lower part, with the overhanging
three windows and the addition of other windows (a tall one and two
others of a lesser size) in the tympanum. The mosaicist has highlighted
the facade walls of the two side naves with the door and high window.
There is also a careful rendering of the weathered roof, the clerestory
windows, the roof and windows of the northern nave closed off by a
tower which stops at the third floor from its ground floor base. The
edifice ends with the apse calotte of which we see the tiled roof of the
semi-dome and the windows.
Conclusion
The floor mosaic in the church at Tayibat al-Imam is a singular monument for many reasons that make it to date a unique example in the
region.
The richness in the architectonic representations is certainly one of its
principal characteristics. The 28 vignettes that accompany the mosaic in the
church of Saint Stephan at Umm al-Rasas cannot be compared with the
variety of typologies and details present in this mosaic. Typical examples
are the cross-shaped building, the one with the atrium on the facade or the
complex towards which the two mules move with their load.
The high date which we read in the mosaic, September 447, makes of
the rich repertoire in the church at Tayibat al-Imam an important reference
point to understand the vignettes at Saint Stephan’s as well as the other
architectonic vignettes brought to light to date in Jordan and in other mosaics of the region.
Another reason is the important doctrinal significance gained by the
decoration in the eastern panel of the central nave. Among the mosaics discovered so far that in some way may be described as doctrinal, such as the
Adam of the Michaelion at Haouarteh, the eastern panel, with its references
to the Book of Revelations, places this floor mosaic at par with the great
theological cycles. These cycles were normally represented in the churches
either on the walls of the triumphal arch or the splay of the apse calotte
behind the altar.
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A minor detail, as yet to be verified, is the word “throne” used in the
mosaic to indicate the platform in the centre of the church. The term, finally recovered to the Syrian liturgical vocabulary, might be a starting point
for the re-examination of the functionality of the unique structure that characterizes the churches in Syria.
Abdul-Razzaq Zaqzuq – Michele Piccirillo
Hamah 1999