Archaeological Park 1
Eastern section: Exhibition of mosaics, Hippolytus Hall, Virgin Mary Church, Crypt of St. Elianus, Roman Street, the Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration.
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The main pavement is a re-making of a mosaic floor which had been laid at the time of the construction of the church (end of the 6th/beginning of the 7th cent.). The well-preserved mosaic was constructed during the Umayyad period when the church was restored.
The mosaic consists of a square frame decorated on the outer edge by a series of serrated points. In the center are a round medallion and an inscription which are enclosed in a guilloche. In turn, two interwoven squares, which form a star, surround the central design which lies inside another circle. Finally, all of this is enclosed in a circular border made up of interlaced smaller circles.
In the spaces between the square frame and the circular composition are two pairs of geometric-floral motifs. Next to each one of the eastern pair, which are in the form of rosettes, there is a tray of fruit with a knife.
A square containing a Solomonic knot in a circle is superimposed on the grid at the entrance from the west. Flowers, leaves, stylized fruit and diamonds fill the empty spaces of the mosaic’s white background.
(From: Michele Piccirillo, page 65)
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
Eastern section: Exhibition of mosaics, Hippolytus Hall, Virgin Mary Church, Crypt of St. Elianus, Roman Street, the Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration.
By Michele Piccirillo
A large format, cloth-bound volume with 383 pages, 874 illustrations, including aerial views of many of the sites and plans of most of the structures which have mosaics.
American Center of Oriental Research, Amman, Jordan. First edition in 1993.
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