Inhabited Scrolls from the IVth to the VIIth Century A.D. in Asia Minor and the Eastern Provinces of the Byzantine Empire

The "inhabited scroll" is a sinusoidal ornament of vegetal nature - either of vine or acanthus, or even, but rarely an ivy stem, filled with human and animal figures, e.g. vintagers, hares, partridges, and inanimate objects, e.g. baskets and vases. The motif, whose origins have been traced back to Hellenistic ornamental metalwork of the fourth-third century B.C., was popular in the Roman East. The present study confined to inhabited scrolls in architectural sculpture and on mosaic pavements from the fourth to the seventh century in Constantinople and in the eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire, examines the motif within its immediate architectural, geographical, economic, social and artistic context. It is based on 37 inhabited scrolls in architectural sculpture and 116 on mosaic pavements collected in the course of field-work in Turkey, Cyprus, the Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, embodied in the catalogue of Vol. II and illustrated in Vols. Ill and IV. Owing to the nature of the material (destroyed, lost, damaged), and in view of its uneven publication, a systematic processing of it has been necessary. It includes the elaboration of a code of types of inhabited scrolls which condenses information and simplifies description. The geographical distribution of inhabited scrolls is examined and the evolution of the motif is traced from late Imperial times, a development illuminated by newly discovered second and third century inhabited scrolls in the Eastern Mediterranean. An attempt is also made to put forward reasons for changes in the distribution patterns from the Roman period when inhabited scrolls predominate in North Africa to the early Byzantine period, when they cluster in the Levant. The cluster in Syro-Cilicia and Palestine is accounted for principally by the booming economic situation of the area in the fifth-sixth century period. The code, moreover, provides a useful means of analysis from which inferences may be drawn particularly in the study of the predominance of some types of inhabited scroll patterns over others and the question of pattern books. Technical aspects of the study, e.g. the analysis of mosaic beds and tesserae stones, size of tesserae and number of tesserae to the dm2, provide information which may be combined with code-type, measurements of pavements, diameter of scrolls, composition, stylistic elements and date to determine "regional groupings" of inhabited scrolls. It is argued that workshops proper can only be determined by a computed cluster analysis combining the various attributes of inhabited scroll pavements cited above. Finally the question of the symbolic significance of the motif is discussed. Like most other motifs from the Graeco-Roman artistic repertory, the inhabited scroll passed into Jewish and Christian art alike, taking a different meaning according to the period, the religion, the building and the onlooker

Socio-economic aspects of the Byzantine mosaic pavements of Phoenicia and northern Palestine

The present thesis analyzes the Byzantine mosaic pavements of Phoenicia and Northern Palcatine from a socio-economic perspective, primarily by examining the laying of pavements including technical aspects and bedding, the quality of decoration, the distribution of pavements in time and space, as well as inscriptions which provide names of donors and artists as well as dates. The approach adopted represents a novel alternative and complement to typical interpretations of mosaic floor decoration which overwhelmingly focus on the development and diffusion of style, or provide an exegesis of figurative iconography. Key aspects discussed include the extent to which chronological patterns of mosaic floor laying may be used to gauge economic conditions; the factors which determined the quality and distribution of technique and decoration in different building types; as well as the social mechanisms of patronage.Close scrutiny of the regional mosaic Corpus (which includes the total number of pavements) suggests that mosaic pavements provide a reasonable indication of economic conditions, especially in association with other media (coins, pottery, inscriptions). Together these media paint a historical picture of the economy of the period.Having graded according to four Levels of Complexity all the geometric designs in the Corpus after their codification following the rules devised by the Association Internationale pour l'Etude de la Mosaïque Antique (AIEMA), and with the support of the written ancient sources, it is demonstrated that quality and distribution of technique and style were governed by a combination of factors, notably function, financial expenditure, social use and various socio-economic categories of patrons, liturgy and liturgical level of participation.By building on the methodologies followed and the conclusions reached by other mosaic scholars, this innovative approach has attempted to reintroduce the human element into a discipline focused since the late 1960s on codification and descriptive precision. Revealing the hidden costs underlying the laying of mosaic pavements has presented a new insight into mosaic pavements as tri-dimensional products of team work. Likewise, stripping the literary language of dedicatory formulas down to essential information has challenged the misinterpreting of epigraphic evidence regarding donations and donors. In-depth analysis of Christian mosaic inscriptions has strengthened the pattern of changes plotted by historians of the Early Byzantine period and suggested that Christian patronage of mosaic art is to be equated with the local initiatives of the Church, ecclesiatics and wealthy laymen (or women) as private donors, and more rarely entire village communities. By contrast, scrutiny of the Jewish and Samaritan mosaic inscriptions has highlighted the fact that benefaction emanated from rich and poor alike, and was far more family and community oriented.</p

Sacred Space and Torah Shrines in Late Antique Synagogues

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