The art of the mosaic was developed by the Greeks, notably within the royal court of Macedonia, and was initially unknown to the Egyptians. Macedonian mosaicists then established busy workshops in the capital, Alexandria, and in the new towns of Greek Egypt. Under the stimulus of commissions from the Ptolemaic court, these workshops soon showed that they were capable of innovation. Beginning with pebbles, they then used tesserae of different sizes, and adopted new materials (glass, faience, paint) in order to transpose onto the floor images from grand paintings, which was the major art form of the time and was characterized by the vivid use of color.

Alexandrian mosaicists were at the forefront of creativity during the Hellenistic period and their influence spread around the Mediterranean. After the Roman conquest of Egypt they adapted to the tastes of their new sponsors and to changes in architecture and were able to retain an important place within this art as it developed across the entire empire, in Rome and from east to west.

The Mosaics of Alexandria provides the first overview of the mosaics and pavements of Egypt that were created between the end of the fourth century BC and the sixth century AD. It presents a selection of some seventy mosaics and pavements from Alexandria and Greco-Roman Egypt. Generally little known and more often than not unpublished, these works are illustrated here in full color, some for the first time. The aim is to better understand the artistic and artisanal production of a type of decoration that played an important role within the living environment of the ancients.

Contents

Preface 9
A Brief History of the Mosaic 13
What Is a Mosaic? 13
The First Greek Mosaics 13
Sources of Inspiration and Applied Techniques 13
The Development of the Mosaic in Ptolemaic Alexandria 14
Spotlight 1. Mortar Floors 16
Spotlight 2. Mortar Floors with Stone Chips and Plaques 18

Chapter 1: The First Mosaics of Alexandria 21
The Oldest Mosaic of Alexandria 21
The Hunter Surrounded by Wild Animals 21
Spotlight 3. Floor Techniques: Mosaics of Pebbles
and Tesserae, Lead Strips 22
Spotlight 4. A Mythical Animal: The Griffin 28
The Little Hunters of Shatby 29
Spotlight 5: The Animals of the Hunting Erotes Mosaic 39

Chapter 2: Imitating Painting, Color Conquers 43
The Royal Portraits of Thmuis 43
Spotlight 6. The Use of Faience 46
Mosaics from the Palaces of Alexandria 51
Spotlight 7. The Use of Large Regular Tesserae 60

Chapter 3: Techniques and Style 67
The Hellenistic Era: New Motifs, Added Color 67
Polychrome swastika meander with squares in perspective 67
Cubes in perspective 67
Spotlight 8. Origins and Development of a Motif:
The Palm Trunk (Stipe) Garland 68
Fleurons made of bipartite leaves 70
The gorgoneion 70
Spotlight 9. Egyptian Blue, Revealed by VIL Photography 72
The gorgoneion in the center of a fleuron 77
The Imperial Period 82
Evolving techniques and materials 82
The choice of motifs, their treatment, and the composition of the pavements 82
The origins and evolution of a mosaic motif: The guilloche 84
Continuity and innovation in the types of mosaic and flooring 88

Chapter 4: The Iconography of Mosaics 91
Mythological Scenes 91
When a satyr meets a nymph 91
Lycurgus and Ambrosia 93
Alpheus and Arethusa 95
A Taste for Representations of Animals 97
The birds 97
The pavement of the birds at Kom al-Dikka 99
A bird emblema 102
Spotlight 10. The Birds of Rhodes 105
Fish 107
The popularity of polychrome animal panels 107
Nilotic Scenes and Other Aquatic Representations 108
Nilotic scenes of the Ptolemaic period 108
Nilotic scenes of the imperial period 108
The marine mosaic with Erotes 118

Chapter 5: Mosaics in Their Architectural Context 123
Baths in the Fayoum and Upper Egypt in the Ptolemaic Period 123
The Zenon archive and the baths of the House of Diotimos 123
The Greek baths of Diospolis Parva and Karnak 123
Mosaic Decoration in Houses of the Imperial Period 127
The Villa of the Birds in Kom al-Dikka 127
The House of Medusa on the Diana Theater site 129

Chapter 6: The Organization of Production 139
Where and How Did the Mosaicist Work? 139
The Emblema Technique and Mixed Laying Technique 139
Hellenistic emblemata 139
Spotlight 11. Ptolemais, Cyrenaica, Three Alexandrian
emblemata from the Hellenistic Period 140
Emblemata of the imperial period 143
Spotlight 12. The Workshop of the Medusa emblemata from the Diana Theater Site 144
Mixed laying technique 145
Opus Sectile 146
Did Alexandrians practice opus sectile in the Ptolemaic period? 147
Sectilia pavimenta of the imperial period 148
Mural panels in opus sectile of the Late Roman period 156

Chapter 7: Late Antiquity: Pagan and Christian Contexts 159
In Alexandria: The Mosaic of Sultan Hussein Street 159
In the Sinai Region: The Mosaics of Shaykh Zuweid and of Pelusium 163
Middle Egypt: The Mosaic of Antinoopolis 170
Mosaics in the Christian Context 170
The monastery of Saint Catherine in Sinai 170
Alexandria and the Mareotid: An archaeological vacuum 173
Kellia: a conservation zone for the decor 173
Mosaics reproduced in paint in the world of the desert hermits, by Denis Weidmann 173
An opus sectile of glass plaques, by Denis Weidmann 179

Chapter 8: The Role of Alexandria in the History
of the Ancient Mosaic 181
The Hellenistic Period: Alexandrian Workshops outside
Egypt 181
The Nilotic mosaic of Palestrina 181
The mosaics of the House of the Faun at Pompeii 182
Alexander and Darius 183
Nilotic panels 185
Garland with masks 185
Symplegma 186
Dionysus on a tiger 186
The lion 186
Doves 189
Xenia, cat, and bird 189
A seascape with fauna 189
Floors of plaques and opera sectilia 191
Other Alexandrian elements in the House of the Faun 194
Alexandria’s Role during the Imperial Period 197

Chapter 9: At the Dawn of the Third
Millennium . . . the Mosaic Art Blooms Again in Alexandria 201

Notes. 212
Catalogue of the Mosaics 215
Appendices 234
Concordances 237
Bibliographic References 241
Image Credits 253
Acknowledgments 256