Mosaic A6, looking down from above
- Description:
- Mosaic A6, looking down from above
- Photographer:
- Image capture by Edwin Brock
- Date Created:
- May 27, 1999
- Collection:
- Villa of the Birds Mosaic Conservation
- Series:
- Post-conservation
- Subseries:
- Early Roman Villa
- Location:
- Alexandria, Egypt and Al Iskandarīyah
- Time Period:
- Early Roman Empire
- Topic:
- Domestic architecture, ِArt, Greco-Roman, Geometric designs, Floral motifs, Animals in art, and Borders, Ornamental (Decorative art)
- Genre:
- black-and-white photographs and general views
- Conservation Note:
- It should be assumed that most of the mosaics in house alpha could be dated to the first half of the second century AD. Mosaic A6 appears to be slightly earlier and may have been executed even at the very end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd century AD. The original design of the emblem was altered in antiquity as a result of reparations. Out of the original hunting scene, only the panther remained alongside two little horns of a goat beside the left leg. This motif related to the Dionysiac mythology is a rare occurrence for Egyptian mosaic floors. The emblema was made in opus vermiculatum technique. Briefly, the state of the mosaic can be summarized with: 20% of the original surface is missing; tesserae losses along the edges; mosaic A7 was superimposed on its surface, amongst other distortions. Reinforcements, partial reconstructions, cleaning and other conservation measures were undertaken as necessary. For more details, refer to Progress Report 5 or the Final Report.
- Copyright Status:
- copyrighted
- Creative Commons License:
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
- Local ID:
- arce_ca_vob_images_0494.tif
- Project History:
- At the heart of modern Alexandria in Kom el-Dikka lies an exceptional demonstration of Domestic architecture during the Roman Imperial period. The Early Roman villa named “Villa of the Birds” houses exceptionally well preserved mosaic floors, made of tesserae. True to its name, it contains Mosaic a-5 which depicts different bird species within seven different panels. Under the auspices of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), Dr. Wojciech Kolataj and his team conserved the mosaic floors, constructed a shelter, and landscaped the surrounding area. Some related supplemental work was carried out by the Polish-Egyptian Preservation Mission, and sponsored jointly by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (currently the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities) and the Polish Center of Archaeology. Conservation work was made possible with the support of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (formerly the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities).
- Funding Agency:
- Villa of the Birds Mosaic Conservation project was made possible with funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Grant No. 263-G-00-93-00089-00 (formerly 263-0000-G-00-3089-00) and administered by the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP) of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).