Bird Mosaic

The Birds Mosaic is a Byzantine mosaic floor discovered in Caesarea Maritima, in modern Israel, in a Byzantine palace that was built around 600 AD. It is viewable in situ.

The mosaic covers an area of 16 by 14.5 meters. It includes a border or frame decorated with fruit trees bearing large and beautiful fruit. Between the trees are large mammals in states of movement. The mammals include lions, leopards, bears, ibex, dogs, elephants, gazelle, oxen, wild boar, horse, and goat. The central field of the mosaic consists of 120 round medallions populated by large colorful birds, which give the mosaic its name. The medallions form 12 rows, with different kinds of birds in each row - peacocks, storks, pelicans, herons, pheasants, grey-headed swamphen, duck, flamingo, guineafowl, ostrich, rock partridge - all of them facing to the left. The sequence of birds is such that the same species is repeated along a diagonal in the medallion array.