Un mosaico inedito presso la ‘Grotta del Latte’ a Betlemme

During the construction of the new church which took place in October 2005, in the area of the “milk Grotto” in Bethlehem, an excavation took place close to an already known mosaic floor. A similar mosaic floor surfaced. The two mosaics were part of the same rectangular building, which was probably a chapel. This new part consists in a geometric pattern that is enclosed by a braid. The decorative motifs are inscribed in a series of 6x6 intertwined circles; in the centre of these circles there are motifs with knots with three or four cords, stars and animal representations: a dog – of which the paws, the tail and part of the body remain –, two fish facing each other, a peacock and a fox. The decorative motifs indicate the dating of the mosaic to the second half of the VIII century. In two circles there are two Arabic inscriptions, one is complete and the other is incomplete; these inscriptions could date back to the X-XI centuries. Furthermore, the existence of another mosaic floor was discovered at a lower level. only a small part of this floor, which is uncovered, is visible underneath the higher floor and this testifies that there was a more ancient phase of the building dating back to the VI century.