Some Observations on the Mosaic Pavements in Lod, Huqoq and Wadi Hamam

Abstract

As a result of a detailed comparative analysis of individual figurative elements (images of fish) in antique mosaic pavements discovered around the settlements of Huqoq and Wadi Hamam in Lower Galilee,and taking the mode of their execution into account, we can state with certainty that the mosaic panels unearthed in this region are characterized by an unusual stylistic manner, which brings them closer to the pavements from Lod, but makes them starkly different from the ones found in any other area of the late Empire. The evident dissimilarity of these pavements allows us to consider them an isolated group and assume that they were all produced at a single highly creative mosaic center active in Galilee during the 3rd–5th centuries A.D. Such a conclusion seems logical, no matter which method of scientific analysis is employed. In the article we detail the technical and technological aspects of making the foundation under the mosaic pavement, and specify the sequence of steps in setting up the layers to secure the durability of the pavement.Of particular importance has been the issue of the underpainting on the nucleus, viewed as a counterpart of today’s cartoon, and also to the analysis of the technological process of how the painted ground hidden under the layer of tesserae over it revealed itself in the Lod mosaic pavement.