Sanctifying the Daily: Continuation and Innovation in Early Church Mosaic Floors

One of the most common types of figurative representations on church mosaic floors in the provinces of Palestina and Arabia during the 5th-6th centuries are images of labour and genre scenes that at first glance seem to be mere representations of daily life: shepherds, farmers, hunters, fishermen, commercial activities and even entertainment-scenes such as the exposition of exotic or dancing animals. These daily labours are mainly associated with the simple life of the villagers. The images were clearly adapted from the Roman repertoire. The first question that this paper addreses is the mechanism of adapation, change and innovation that took place during the transmission of images from the Roman context to the Christian church. The second question is: In what way can these depictions be linked to the sacred realm? It will further try to address the inclusive motivation behind the visual choices and the social role that this artistic imagery fulfilled for those who visited the church and recognized themselves in these depictions.

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