Mosaico nilotic, The Nile Mosaic of Palestrina, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Palestrina, manortiz

(...) Mosaic is depicted the Nile from Ethiopia to Egypt and it is examined separately over 20 different scenes consist of hunting parties, daily life, various ships, mythological creatures, different animals, buildings, plants and other nature elements etc. Upper part of the mosaic is about Ethiopia and lower part scenes are from the Egypt. Illustrations of the sections are very detailed. There are some descriptions in Greek on the scenes and all the subject is about the Nile region. An example for wild animals with description, in the mosaic in a scene, a snake is catching birds (on the upper left corner of the mosaic). And Ethiopia is famous its large rock pythons. This scene is also similar with a story that Pliny and Aelian told. According to the story, large snakes catch the birds even they are flying (Meyboom 20-21). Besides in this scene there is thoantes, which is a spotted hyena in here, but according to the Meyboom this term represents the jackals and spotted wild dogs, so they confused the animals. Another example for the different animals is the scene with turtles and otters that swimming and above them water-animal is writing (Meyboom 23). In addition, we can see guenons, red monkeys, hippopotamuses, crabs, peacock, camel, giraffes, lion, lizards, bear, cheetahs etc. These are some examples of the animal fauna of the Nile region that was represented in the Nile Mosaic and some of them, which are not live in that region, were imported animals.
In hunting scenes we can understand who the people are, what they are using and wearing and some other things like architecture. Basically, this can tell us about the buildings and what they are look like. For example, there are six black-skin archers with short hair wearing chitons and having bows and round shields, a little bit far away from them there are two archers wearing chiton exomis. According to the Meyboom, those people are probably the Troglodytes that lived in the area between the Nile and Red Sea. Ptolemaic Egypt Greek architecture can be seen in the mosaic. A Hellenistic temple with Egyptian elements, actually it is a small shrine, in Doric order. It has two steps, naos, pronaos with a row of three columns, entablature with frieze, curved roof and pediment (ancient Egyptian tradition) and in front of the temple there are two obelisks. Also there is a tower at the back of the temple. Probably a tower house and had a connection with the temple. Merely a few these kinds of temples have been preserved (Meyboom 28-29). This is not the only temple in the mosaic. There are other representations. Like a temple on an island or the large temple again in Egyptian style. Large temple has statues in front of it with crossed over arms. These mummy-like statues must be the Osiris (Meyboom 29). An interesting scene, a group of soldiers probably in front of a temple. They are wearing leather cuirasses or chitons, Thracian helmets, embades or krepides, mantles, swords, spears, shields etc. These are the selected groups of the Ptolemaic army (Meyboom 37). And Meyboom tells us that there is an historical interpretation. In front of a pavilion there is a meeting. Perhaps the appearance of Alexander the Great, Caesar, Augustus, Hadrian, or others in Egypt.
archaeologicalw......
Il mosaico, uno dei più grandi e importanti mosaici ellenistici conosciuti, costituisce una grande carta geografica dell’Egitto in veduta prospettica, in cui è raffigurato il Nilo durante l’inondazione, nel suo percorso dall’Alto Egitto, ai confini con l’Etiopia (in alto), fino alla costa mediterranea (in basso). La sua datazione è stata a lungo discussa, ma ormai sembra accertato che l’opera debba risalire alla fine del II sec. a.C. Una conferma a questa cronologia proviene dalla sua collocazione originaria. Esso infatti costituiva il pavimento dell’abside di fondo di una grande aula situata nel Foro di Praeneste, in un complesso di edifici costruiti proprio in quel periodo, nell’ambito di una globale risistemazione urbanistica della città. L’aula absidata può essere identificata con un ambiente dedicato al culto di una divinità egiziana, Iside o Serapide, e quindi il soggetto del mosaico non aveva solo una funzione puramente ornamentale, ma probabilmente sottolineava il rapporto con l’Egitto.
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