Church of St. Stephen complex
Informative photo tour through the Church of St. Stephen complex at Umm er-Rasas, including several churches, chapels and adjacent structures.
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In the presbyterium, the mosaic floor of the apse is a geometric grid with diamonds.
In front of the altar, a rectangular panel is enclosed in a frame of squares with swastika meanders and knots. The panel contains a medallion flanked by a ram and a tree on each side. The inscription in the medallion reads: “In the good times of our lord, the most holy and most blessed Bishop Sergius, the whole work of this most holy church was paved with mosaics by the priest, Procopius, in the month of Gorpiaus in the sixth indiction of the year 482 of the Province of Arabia [A.D. 587/88].”
Birds flanking a bunch of flowers are shown on either side of another inscription which is near the step of the presbyterium, “The Lord has loved the gate of Zion more than the tents of Jacob” (Psalm 87:2).
(From: Michele Piccirillo, pages 234/235)
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
Groundplan: UiU, based on a drawing by the Department of Antiquities (DoA), Jordan
Informative photo tour through the Church of St. Stephen complex at Umm er-Rasas, including several churches, chapels and adjacent structures.
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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