The necropolis in Qweilbeh-Abila, Jordan, has been explored since 1969. The results were
published by French scholars in two volumes of high value. Both the topography of the
tombs and their inventory show similarities to these of Skythopolis, the westernmost town of
the Syrian Decapolis. In this article painted decoration of one of the tombs (tomb QI) , called
the tomb of Loukianos, is considered.
In its side room a series of four pictures showing a young woman in varying poses,
supplemented by two pictures with therio-vegetal motives were placed on the walls. This series
has been interpreted by the French scholar as belonging in a Christian context and was dated
to the Late Antique period.
This author, pointing to dress and material context interprets the pictures as connected
with a Pagan eschatology, especially vivid in the Orient in the Hadrianic period. She interprets
the pictures as showing an educated and well-adjusted girl from a well-to-do family in scenes
characteristic of the life of a girl of her standing: reading, playing music, dancing. A second
century date is proposed for the painted decoration, pointing to the provincialism of the style.Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej naukę