Mosaic, Church of Bishop Sergius, Umm ar-Rasas
Detail of a Byzantine floor mosaic depicting a figure representing the seasonal harvest with a horn of plenty and vine leaves, 587 AD, from the Church of Bishop Sergius, built 586 AD in the time of Bishop Sergius of Madaba, Umm ar-Rasas, Amman, Jordan. This is the only human figure to remain in the mosaic cycle as it was protected by the stone base of a later pulpit, the others having been destroyed by Christian iconoclasts. The church was built as a basilica with an apse and elevated presbytery and forms part of an ecclesiastical complex of 4 churches. Umm ar-Rasas is a rectangular walled city which grew from a Roman military camp in the Jordanian desert. Its remains date from the Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad periods (3rd - 9th centuries), including 16 churches with mosaic floors. Excavations began in 1986, although most of the site remains unexplored. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Picture by Manuel Cohen
