“The Mona Lisa of the Galilee”

Set in the white ground of the mosaic floor at one end—like a beautiful rug—is a 20- by 20-foot area of colored mosaic. The colored area consists of a rectangle flanked along part of its length on two sides by panels illustrating processions. The processional on one side (bottom right foreground of the picture below) is quite intact, depicting people carrying agricultural produce. The large rectangular section of the mosaic includes three center panels surrounded by 12 rectangles, probably representing scenes from the life of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry. Each of the separate scenes is labeled with a Greek inscription. The scenes include Dionysus engaged in a drinking competition with Hercules, the marriage of the god, and a number of scenes showing Dionysus with Pan, god of music and shepherds.

A border of medallions formed by trailing acanthus leaves surrounds the 15 panels. Within most of the medallions appear animals in hunting or fighting scenes.

In one of the medallions, centered at one end of the rectangular “carpet,” is the most exquisite feature of the mosaic—an elegant, delicately shaded portrait of a woman crowned with a wreath. The captivating woman, who graces the cover of this issue, was once matched on the opposite side by another portrait—now destroyed.

Read the rest of 1988 Excavation Opportunities – Prize Find- Mosaic Masterpiece Dazzles Sepphoris Volunteers,” BAR 14-01, Jan-Feb 1988 in the online Biblical Archaeology Society library.