CIRCA 4TH-5TH CENTURY A.D.

The mosaic is preserved on two panels, with multicolored tesserae on a cream ground, depicting animals around a date palm. To the left of the date palm is an ostrich feeding off the low-hanging leaves and to the right is an elephant curling his trunck around the high-fanning fronds, its tusks curving upwards. The upper portion depicts animals standing amidst foliage. To the left is a lioness and with her cubs, her fierce face with her mouth agape, a male cub nursing below and a female cub to his left. A portion of a wheel is depicted behind the lions. To the right is a grazing antelope with its head lowered; below is a spoked device.
By the 5th century A.D., a new style was adopted for the compositions of animal mosaics, differing drastically from those of the previous centuries. According to K.M.D. Dunbabin (Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World, p. 179), "Instead of being framed in distinct compartments, rows of animals are now spread freely over the surface to be decorated, forming a figured carpet. They may stand or walk peacefully, without interaction or they may form groups...Limited landscape elements, in the form of trees, bushes, or groundlines, may be present, but serve a predominately decorative purpose, to punctuate and give rhythm to a scene." For an animal carpet mosaic see no. 193, in Dunbabin, op. cit.