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Theodorias (Qasr Libya)
Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.
Today, the East Church in the Cyrenaican town of Theodorias look like this. The entire floor was covered by the mosaic that was shown on the first page. There was a second mosaic in the room to the left, which will be now be discussed. It contains two inscriptions and the picture consists of a central scene and a decorated edge.
This is the entire mosaic as it is displayed in the small, one-room museum of modern Qasr Libya.
An overview of the center of the mosaic. These scenes are called 'nilotic', because the Nile and the Indus were the only known river with crocodiles.
The left part of the center: a crocodile attacking a cow. Look at the cow's tail to the right of the mosaic...
... which you can see here at the left hand side. The peasant tries to draw away his cow, but probably, he is no match for the crocodile. The right part of the center shows fishermen with lotuses and a duck.
The edge was decorated with all kinds of animals and plants, like this stag fighting with a snake.
The inscription says that the building was finished in the third year of the indiction by Theodorus, the new bishop. The problem is that the inscripton on the other mosaic, made by the same artists, was made in the same third year (539), by bishop Macarius. Probably, Theodorus was successor of Macarius. Alternatively, they were not the same artiststs. One indication is that in this mosaic, the OY is writtten as a single sign ('ligature').
This is a prayer that can be rendered as follows: "The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob [is] our high stronghold. Great God, Eternal One, also be a refuge to the family of your servant Theodorus, if You will." The first line is a quotation from from Psalm 45.11.
Finally, the mosaic in the West Church, showing a cross between two stags. After the splendor of the East Church, it is a bit of a disappointment.
But on the other hand, here at least the church survives. The West Church is opposite the museum.
© Jona Lendering for
Livius.Org, 2006
Revision: 26 August 2006
 
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