Stunning mosaic from Roman home was designed to impress guests

In 1996, while widening a road in the 3,000-year-old city of Lod, Israel, a crew of construction workers uncovered a small, egg-shaped patch of mosaic tiles. Archaeologists were called to the site and eventually unearthed a massive treasure dating from the Roman Empire.

**Preparing the exhibit, David Holm walks the ancient Roman tile floor on display in the Columbus Museum of Art [Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority]**

The exceptionally artful and well-preserved mosaic of animal and marine life — composed of 2 m illion tiles and almost 300 square feet — once adorned the floor of a meeting space in a private home circa A.D. 300, historians think.

Money was raised for its excavation and restoration, and, in 2009, the mosaic was carefully removed from its resting place and began a limited world tour under the banner “Marvelous Menagerie.”It now fills a gallery at the Columbus Museum of Art, one of only five U.S. venues to host the ornate artifact.

“I think the amazing thing about this exhibit is that it came from 6,000 miles away and 1,700 years in the past,” the museum’s adjunct curator, Carole Genshaft, said during a preview of the show.

Another source of wonder is the sheer beauty, density and zoological makeup of the imagery. Between decorative swirls and chevrons, dozens of exotic, remarkably detailed land and sea creatures lounge on rocks, snack on prey or swim on a neutral background.

Lions and tigers share space with bulls and elephants. Depictions of sailing ships in one section are dwarfed by a diverse school of fish, including a whale with the long, curling tail of a sea serpent.

As Genshaft noted, most of these animals weren’t native to the region, and there’s a notable absence of human figures. The choices enhance the mystery in the discovery.

“It can tell us so much about the time and place, but at the same time, it raises so many questions,” she said.

**The intricate design features creatures of the sea and land [Credit: Israel Antiquities Authority]**

The lack of human presence could allude to the faith of the person who commissioned it and Judeo-Christian restrictions on graven images, yet appearances by rabbits clinging to grapes are considered a reference to Dionysius, the pagan god of wine and fertility. The strong showing by fish might denote the patron’s trade.

Ultimately, one can ponder at length about who commissioned and created the work, and what forces shaped the composition. According to Genshaft, comparisons with other ancient mosaics have given rise to a theory that artisans at the time worked from pattern books featuring animals they wouldn’t have seen in real life. Patrons would be given a choice of what images to include, much in the way that fabric swatches are presented to clients by contemporary interior designers.

Beyond its stunningly impressive craftsmanship, the one clear impression left by this muscular piece — packed as it is with signs of wealth, bounty and fertility — is that an urge to keep up with the Joneses existed centuries before the surname Jones did.

Author: Melissa Starker | Source: The Columbus Dispatch [May 27, 2012]