A third Lod mosaic has been excavated

DECORATIVE ART: While building museum to house stunning Lod mosaic, researchers unearth another. Fresh piece falls into place to the 1,700-year-old puzzle of who was the wealthy -- maybe Jewish -- owner of a sumptuous Roman villa discovered 20 years ago under a garbage dump (Amanda Borschel-Dan, Times of Israel plus AP).

Much like the other eye-widening mosaics found in Lod, this new floor depicts realistic and fantastical animals and designs, but no human figures.

“Thankfully, the main central panel of the mosaic was preserved. The figures, many similar to the figures in the earlier mosaics, comprise fish and winged creatures. A fairly similar mosaic was found in the past in Jerusalem, on the Mount Zion slopes.

The Lod mosaics, however, do not depict any human figures that are present in the Mount Zion mosaic,” said [dig director Amir] Gorzalczany, who believes both sites’ mosaics may have been produced by the same artist, or working from similar designs. “This type of mosaic is better known in the Western part of the Roman Empire.

The original Lod mosaic traveled around the world in exhibitions and returned to Israel in 2017. For it, start here and follow the links. The second one (see here and here). Now the site has produced a third one at the villa of the same rich merchant.

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