From Wilderness to Paradise: A Sixth-century Mosaic Pavement at Qasr El-lebia in Cyrenaica, Libya

Cover\nTitle Page\nCopyright Information\nContents\nList of Figures\n	1: Introduction\n		Fig. 1. Large pavement at Qasr el-Lebia. As shown in Illustrated London News, December 1957\n		Fig. 2. Fifty Panels from the large pavement at Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 3. Detail of border from the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 4. Plan of East Church, Qasr el-Lebia. D20/5/10/17 from BILNAS Archive, reproduced with permission from BILNAS. Annotations by author. \n		Fig. 5. Northeast annex, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 6. Northeast annex, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 7. Detail of central panel in the northeast annex, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 8. Detail of central panel in the northeast annex, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 9. Inscription by the doorway in the west wall of the northeast annex, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 10. Inscription by opening into tomb chamber to the north of the northeast annex, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 11. Inscription by doorway at the east end of northeast annex, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 12. Sanctuary pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 13. Sanctuary pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 14. Sanctuary Pavement, Central Church, Cyrene. Copyright © The Society for Libyan Studies 2021\n		Fig. 15. Altar base and mosaic at time of excavation. East Church, Qasr el-Lebia. From Illustrated London News, December 1957.\n		Fig. 16. Inscription in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 17. Polis Nea Theodorias, in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 18. Sheep in front of a tree in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 19. Gazelle in front of a tree in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 20. Bull in front of a tree in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 21. Lion in front of a tree in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 22. Ram in front of a tree, from a chapel in Madaba, Jordan. Author\n		Fig. 23. A leopard in front of a tree in the north aisle of a church in Kissufim, Israel. Now in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Author\n		Fig. 24. Kosmesis in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 25. Ktisis in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 26. Ananeosis in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 27. Geon in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 28. Euphrates in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 29. Tigris in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 30. Phison in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 31. Kastalia in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 32. Crocodile and bull combat scene, House of Leontis at Beth She’an, Israel. Now in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Author\n	2: Cyrenaica\n		Fig. 33. Map of Libya. Public Domain\n		Fig. 34. House of Hesychius, Cyrene. Author\n		Fig. 35. Baldaccino beneath the church at Umm Heneia el Garbia. Author\n		Fig. 36. Arcades under the church at Umm Heneia el Garbia. Author\n		Fig. 37. Approach to Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 38. Plan of West Church, Qasr el-Lebia. D20/5/10/2/7 from BILNAS Archive, reproduced with permission from BILNAS.\n		Fig. 39. Exterior of West Church, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 40. Interior of West Church, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 41. Plan of East Church, Qasr el-Lebia. D20/5/10/17 from BILNAS Archive, reproduced with permission from BILNAS. Annotations by author. \n		Fig. 42. Benches in northwest annex, East Church, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 43. Solea, East Church, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 44. Double orthostats, East Church, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n	3: Reading the Mosaic Pavement\n		Fig. 45. Anicia Juliana on the dedication page of the Vienna Dioscurides. Public Domain\n		Fig. 46. Inscription above west doorway in Santa Sabina, Rome. With permission of Web Gallery of Art\n		Fig. 47. Plant scroll in Armenian chapel Jerusalem. Public Domain.\n		Fig. 48. Church of Ss Lot and Procopius, Khirbet al-Mukhayyat, Jordan. Author\n		Fig. 49. Qabr Hiram mosaic. Now in Louvre Museum, Paris. Public Domain. G. Garitan\n		Fig. 50. Panel with border. Photographed before the panels were lifted. Illustrated London News, December 1957.\n		Fig. 51. North aisle, Byzantine Basilica, Petra. Author\n		Fig. 52. South aisle, Byzantine Basilica, Petra. Author\n	4:  Iconographic Analysis\n		Fig. 53. Arrangement of oceanic and Nilotic images in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 54. Transept, Basilica A (Basilica of Dometios), Nikopolis. Photo S. Curtis\n		Fig. 55. Teatro Maritime at the Villa Adriana, Tivoli. Author\n		Fig. 56. Detail of the marine thiasos in the Teatro Maritime at Villa Adriana, Tivoli. Author\n		Fig. 57. Okeanus from Ain Témouchent near Sétif, Algeria. Now in the Museum of Antiquities, Algiers. Author\n		Fig. 58. Sea monster, large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 59. Sea monster, large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 60. Sarcophagus from the Cemetery of St. Calixtus, Rome. Now in the Vatican Museum. Author\n		Fig. 61. Loculus slab from the Cemetery of Praetextatus, Rome. Now in the Vatican Museums, Rome. Author\n		Fig. 62. Odysseus mosaic, House of Leontis, Beth She’an, Israel. Now in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Author\n		Fig. 63. Merman in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 64. Phorkys mosaic from the Trajan Baths of Acholla. Now in the Bardo Museum, Tunis. Public Domain. D. Jarvis\n		Fig. 65. Nilometer in the Nile Festival Building at Sepphoris, Israel. Author\n		Fig. 66. Alexandria in the Nile Festival Building at Sepphoris, Israel.  Author\n		Fig. 67. Nilotic imagery at east end of north aisle in the church at Tabgha, Israel. Author\n		Fig. 68. Nilotic imagery in the Villa Silin, Libya. Author\n		Fig. 69. Detail of oceanic border, Basilica, A (Basilica of Dometios), Nikopolis, Greece. Photo S. Curtis\n		Fig. 70. Oceanic and Nilotic panels in the large pavement at Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 71. Kosmesis and Ktisis flanking a representation of Polis Nea Theodorias with Ananeosis below. Large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 72. Ktisis and Kosmesis from Ras al-Hilal. Now in the Museum at Susa (Apollonia). Author\n		Fig. 73. Kosmesis, Ktisis and Ananeosis from Taucheira. Photo Dr. W. Wootton\n		Fig. 74. Ktisis. House of Eustolios, Kourion, Cyprus. Author\n		Fig. 75. Ktisis. House of Ktisis, Antioch. Author\n		Fig. 76. Ktisis Villa of the Amazons, Urfa, Turkey. Author\n		Fig. 77. Ktisis. Now in The Metropolitan Museum, New York. Public Domain, Wmpearl\n		Fig. 78. Ktisis. From Jiyyeh, now in the Beiteddine Palace, Lebanon. Public Domain\n		Fig. 79. Consular diptychs of Aerobindus and Probus Anastatius. Public Domain - Musée de Cluny and Bibliothèque Nationale de France\n		Fig. 80. Female portrait from The Upper Chapel of Priest John at Wadi’Afrit, Jordan. With permission from The American Center of Research, Jordan\n		Fig. 81. City personifications, Hippolytus Hall, Madaba, Jordan. Author\n		Fig. 82. Theodosia and Georgia in the Orpheus Mosaic from Jerusalem, now in the Archaeological Museum.  Archaeological Museum. Public Domain.\n		Fig. 83 Mosaic pavement depicting female donors Kissufim, western Negev 578 CE stone and glass IAA 1977-416 Collection of Israel Antiquities Authority Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem by Elie Posner\n		Fig. 84. Mosaic in the Church of St Demetrius, Thessaloniki, Greece. Author\n		Fig. 85. Mosaic in a field at Gasr Bandis in Cyrenaica. Author\n		Fig. 86. Panel showing two women holding offerings. Gasr Bandis, Cyrenaica. From Ward-Perkins, J.B. and R.G. Goodchild 2003. Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica, with permission from the Society of Libyan Studies\n		Fig. 87. Male figure next to the female figures at Gasr Bandis, Cyrenaica. From Ward-Perkins, J.B. and R.G. Goodchild 2003. Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica, with permission from the Society of Libyan Studies\n		Fig. 88. Ananeosis from the Constantinian Villa, Antioch. Now in Hatay Mosaic Museum, Turkey. Author\n		Fig. 89. Tyche mosaic from Beth She’an, Israel. Now in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Author\n		Fig. 90. Votive relief of Gadde from Dura Europos. Public Domain, Yale University Art Gallery\n		Fig. 91. Ananeosis above the eagle in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 92. Tableau of nine panels in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 93. Birds pulling festoons from a basket in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 94. Daniel with festoons behind him. Pécs (Sopianae), Hungary. Author\n		Fig. 95. Geon in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 96. Phison in the large pavement,  Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 97. Euphrates in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 98. Tigris in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 99. Apse mosaic, Hosios David, Thessaloniki. With permission from David Hendrix/The Byzantine Legacy\n		Fig. 100. Two sarcophagi from Sant’Apollinaris in Classe, Ravenna, Italy. Author\n		Fig. 101. Sarcophagus in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy. With permission from Carola Jäggi, Zurich University\n		Fig. 102. Geon in the baptistery at Jabaliyah, Israel. With permission from Jean-Baptiste Humbert\n		Fig. 103. Baptistery at the Episcopal Basilica, Stobi, Macedonia. Author\n		Fig. 104. Apotropaic phalli on a street corner in Leptis Magna, Libya. Author\n		Fig. 105. Phallus carved on a pier outside a cave, thought to have been a Mithraeum, on one of the main streets in Tiddis, Algeria. Author\n		Fig. 106. Naked hunter, Sepphoris, Israel. Author\n		Fig. 107. Border in Basilica A (Basilica of Dometios), Nikopolis, Greece. Photo S. Curtis\n		Fig. 108. The eagle with its prey in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 109. Personification of Kastalia in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 110. Section of the apse mosaic at Hosios David in Thessaloniki, Greece. With permission from David Hendrix/The Byzantine Legacy\n		Fig. 111. Personification of Summer, in the Byzantine Basilica at Petra, Jordan. Author\n		Fig. 112. Section of south aisle in the Byzantine Basilica at Petra, Jordan. Author\n		Fig. 113. Nave mosaic, Tayibat al-Imam, Syria. Author\n		Fig. 114. Satyr, Musician and Leopard in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 115. Section of the Sheikh Zouède mosaic, Eretz, Israel. With permission from Marek T. Olszewski\n		Fig. 116. The Pharos in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 117. Reverse of a Tetradrachm of Commodus. AD 177-92. Public Domain\n		Fig. 118. A Pharos mosaic from Ostia Antica, Italy. Author\n		Fig. 119. Loculus cover from the Coemeterium Jordanorum, Rome. Now in the Vatican Museums. Author\n		Fig. 120. Boat heading for the Pharos in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 121. Pedimented building in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 122. Ampulla from the Abbey Museum, Bobbio, Italy. Public Domain.\n		Fig. 123. Glass chalice from Palestine, now in the Dumbarton Oaks Museum. With permission from Dumbarton Oaks Museum\n		Fig. 124. Above a door in the south wall of the church at Ras al-Hilal, Cyrenaica. Author\n		Fig. 125. One remaining support for curtain rod above a door in the east wall in Siret el Giambi Monastery, El Beida, Cyrenaica. Author\n		Fig. 126. Polis Nea Theodorias in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 127. Castellated building in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 128. Plan showing position of castellated building in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 129. The three architectural representations on the central axis in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 130. Ostriches at either end of a row of panels in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 131. Horses flanking the pedimented building in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 132. Sheep flanking inscription in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 133. Bulls flanking sheep and inscription in the large pavement, Qasr el_Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 134. Bulls flanking a pedestal, Umm Hartain, Syria. With permission from Sean Leatherbury/Manar al-Athar\n		Fig. 135. Lions flanking the eagle with its prey in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 136. Mosaic in Basilica D in Byllis, Albania Byllis. With permission from Neritan Ceka\n		Fig. 137. Stags flanking the lions and the eagle with its prey in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 138. Stag with a snake in its mouth in the northeast annex, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 139. Stag with snake in the Great Palace Mosaic, Istanbul. Author\n		Fig. 140. Gazelles flanking Kosmesis, Ktisis and Polis Nea Theodorias in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 141. Bear in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 142. Mismatched ‘pair’ of animals in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n	5. Overall Programme\n		Fig. 143. Large fish at entrance to east end of East Church, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 144. Entrance to north aisle, Sabratha, Libya. Author\n		Fig. 145. Threshold to south aisle, Basilica A, Amphipolis, Greece. Author\n		Fig. 146. Doorway into the space paved by the large mosaic, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 147. Panels by the entrance to the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 148. Arrows marking the symmetry that emerges further west in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 149. Peacock and wreath on the central axis of the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 150. Pedimented building marking the change from Ocean to Nile in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 151. Nilotic and Paradisiacal imagery in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 152. Honour guard flanking the central axis in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 153. Tableau of nine panels in the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 154. Arriving at Polis Nea Theodorias, flanked by Kosmesis and Ktisis. The large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n	6. Architectural Setting and Hypotheses\n		Fig. 155. Plan of the East Church at Qasr el-Lebia showing the proposed partition. D20/5/10/17 from BILNAS Archive, reproduced with permission from BILNAS. Annotations by author. \n		Fig. 156. Strip of vine scroll mosaic to the west of the large pavement, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 157. Photograph of showing the small marble tiles. From the Illustrated London News, December 1957\n		Fig. 158. Episcopium chapel, Heraclea Lyncestis, Macedonia. Author\n		Fig. 159. Episcopium chapel, Heraclea Lyncestis, Macedonia. Author\n		Fig. 160. Plan of the East Church Cyrene with location of baptistery and Crocodile/ bull combat scene. From Ward-Perkins, J.B. and R.G. Goodchild 2003. Christian Monuments of Cyrenaica, with permission from the Society of Libyan Studies. Annotations by au\n		Fig. 161. Peacocks by east doorway in northeast annex, East Church, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\n		Fig. 162. Butrint Baptistery. With permission from The Butrint Foundation\n		Fig. 163. Ceiling mosaic in San Giovanni in Fonte, Naples, Italy. Author\n		Fig. 164. Baptistery at Butrint with possible consignatorium. With permission from the Butrint Foundation\n		Fig. 165. Mosaic by door between baptistery and adjacent hall at Butrint. With permission from The Butrint Foundation\n		Fig. 166. Kosmesis and Ktisis at the end of the journey, Qasr el-Lebia. Author\nAcknowledgements\n1. Introduction\n	Overview of the Mosaics\n	The Large Mosaic Pavement\n	Pavements in the Northeast Annex and Sanctuary\n		Northeast Annex\n		Sanctuary\n	Dating\n2. Cyrenaica\n	Geographical Context\n	Christianity in Cyrenaica\n	The Archaeological Site at Qasr el-Lebia\n		West Church\n		East Church\n3. Reading the Mosaic Pavement\n	Imagery and Literature in Late Antiquity\n		Varietas\n	Layout of the pavement\n4.  Iconographic Analysis\n	Ocean and Nile\n		Ocean\n		Nile\n	Personifications - Kosmesis, Ktitis and Ananeosis\n		Kosmesis and Ktisis\n		Ananeosis\n	The Rivers of Paradise\n		Geon\n		Phison\n		Euphrates\n		Tigris\n	Kastalia and the Eagle\n		Kastalia\n		Castalian Spring at Daphne\n		Castalian Spring at Delphi\n		Kastalia at Qasr el-Lebia\n		The Eagle and its Prey\n	A Musician, a Leopard and a Satyr\n	Architectural Representations\n		Pharos\n		Pedimented Building\n		Polis Nea Theodorias\n		Castellated Building\n	Two-by-Two\n		Ostriches\n		Horses\n		Sheep\n		Bulls\n		Lions\n		Stags\n		Gazelles\n		Anomalies\n5. Overall Programme\n	The Journey: Wilderness to Paradise\n		Wilderness\n		Paradise\n6. Architectural Setting and Hypotheses\n	Architectural Setting\n	Hypothesis 1: The Large Mosaic as the Pavement of part of an Episcopium\n	Hypothesis 2: The Large Pavement as Part of a Baptismal Complex\n	Conclusion\nBibliography\nIndex