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TomaszWaliszewski
cases,Iwouldbeinclinedtoidentifythe
treesdepictedonthemosaicsasolivetrees,
sometimesentangledinavine-trellis.These
aretreesonamosaicpavementfromthe
centralnaveofthechurchatDeirel-KAdas
(Donceel-Voûte1988:48–49,Fig.23)
andamosaicinthesouthaisleinHawarte
(Donceel-Voûte1988:112and114,Fig.80),
thenfourtreesbearingcloseresemblanceto
olivetreeswereshownbetweentwomajor
benefactors,onamosaicfloorintheentrance
tothepresbyteryintheChurchofSaints
CosmasandDamianus(AD533)inGerasa
(Piccirillo1993:276–277).Next,twotrees
locatedcentrallyattheeasternendofamosaic
pavementinthecentralnaveoftheChurch
ofBishopSergius(AD587/588)inUmm
el-RasasinJordan(Piccirillo1993:234–235,
Fig.366),andpossiblysomeofthetrees
depictedonamosaicinthecentralnaveof
theChurchofel-KhadirinMadaba(Piccirillo
1993:129,Fig.142).Onapersonalnote,
Icannotescapetheimpressionthatolive
treesweretoocommoninthelandscape
ofSyria–Palestinetobewidelydepictedin
localiconography,yieldingtoother,more
picturesqueandsymbolicfruittrees,likethe
pomegranateandapple.Ontheotherhand,
thepopularityofvine-trellisandgrapes,also
commontotheSyro–Palestinianlandscape,
wouldargueagainstsuchaninterpretation.
Anisolatedandimportantexampleisajar
depictedonamosaicinthesynagogueat
SepphorisinGalilee,identifiedasatypicalbag-
shapedamphoramanufacturednearBeisan–
BetSheanduringthe5th–7thcenturyAD.It
bearsaninscriptioninHebrewdescribingits
contentasKshemen”,oil(Weiss2005:81–82,
Fig.25).Olivesmayhavebeendepictedwith
otherseasonalfruit,likepomegranates,grapes
andfigs,inthepersonificationofAutumn
fromtheHammathTiberiassynagogue
mosaic(4thcenturyAD)inGalilee,which
clearlyreferstotheharvestingofthefruit
andpressingoftheoil(Dothan2000:
43–44,Pl.31.1).36Inmostcases,however,
theinformationfromiconographicalsources
willbeofmerelysecondaryimportancefor
thesubject,documentingforexamplethe
commerceintheregionwhereoilproduction
wasattested.37
Thesefewexamplesareincontrastwith
iconographicalevidencereferringtovine
cultivationandwineproduction.Dozensof
vine-trellisformingtheso-calledinhabited
scrollsonRomanandByzantinemosaicsand
paintingsarethemosttellingexamplesbut
oneshouldalsomentionrepresentationsofthe
grapeharvestandwine-pressingwithdevices
featuringwoodenscrews,atypeofpress
attestedbythearchaeologicalevidencefrom
Syria–Palestine.38
1.3.4Ecofactsandcontributionof
environmentalanalysis
Inoppositiontotheartifactsdescribedabove,
aconsiderablebodyofecofacts,unmodified
byhumanculture,shouldbetakeninto
considerationwhenreconstructingolivetree
cultivationandoilproductioninantiquity.
Faunalandfloral,organicandinorganic
ecofacts,analyzedthroughpalynological,
carpologicalandanthracologicalmethods
hasalreadyshownittobeasourceofvery
importantinformation.
Carbonizedoliveseedsfoundduring
excavationsonseveralsitesacrossthe
region,besidebeingevidenceforolive
fruitconsumption,offeranopportunityto
discussthewidelydebatedproblemofthe
earliesttracesofolivedomesticationandthe
cultivationofwildanddomesticatedOlea
³6DavidParrish(2003:237–257)notedassociationsoftheolivewithpersonificationsofWinter,astestifiedbytwomosaicrepre-
sentationsfromHaidra(4thcenturyAD)andCarthage(late4th–early5thcenturyAD)inAfrica.
³7Twoshipsbelongingprobablytolocalnauklēroi,shipowners,suchasthosementionedinthechurchatZahrani,arerepresented
onamosaicinthechurchatKhalde-Choueifat(late5th–early6thcenturyAD),southofBeirut,testifyingtothevividcommerce
ofthecityintheByzantineperiod(Donceel-Voûte1988:360,Fig.344).
³8Themosttellingexamplesofsuchwine-pressesarerepresentedonmosaicpavementsinthechurchofSaintChristopherat
QabrHiramnearTyre(AD575)(Donceel-Voûte1988:413,Figs403and417,Figs405–413),theChurchofBishopSergius
(AD587/588)atUmmel-Rasas(Piccirilo1993:Fig.334)andtheChurchoftheHolyMartyrsLotandProcopius(AD557)at
Khirbetel-MukhayyatnearMountNebo,bothinJordan(Piccirillo1993:164–165,Figs202,206).
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PAMMonographSeries6
