Two Antiques Exhibitions,, New York City, Beginning 21 September 2008Three years ago I noted the discovery of the table here. (Unfortunately, the link has rotted.)
By The Israel Antiquities Authority
[ISRAEL] The Metropolitan Museum of Art will exhibit the dazzling Gold – Glass Table from Caesarea. The Gold Glass Table will be on display in the Byzantine Galleries of the Metropolitan Museum. Dating to the late 6th, early 7th century CE, this extraordinary, one of a kind panel was excavated in a Byzantine period mansion in the coastal city of Caesarea, when a large mosaic floor known as the Birds Mosaic, was exposed for conservation in 2005. The nearly intact panel is shaped like the letter sigma and made of small glass pieces using the opus sectile technique. The panel was discovered with its face down directly on the mosaic floor and was covered by ashes and debris from the ceiling and the second floor. It comprises a wide frame surrounding the central part, both made of a combination of delicate, translucent gold – glass pieces and opaque, colored mosaic glass pieces. The square gold – glass pieces were decorated with a stamped design of flower or cross. ...
The second antiquities exhibition mentioned in the headline is the one on the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Jewish Museum, noted here.
