Photographs of nature, places and objects that have caught my eye.

Φωτογραφίες απο την φύση, απο τόπους και αντικείμενα που μου χτύπησαν στο μάτι.

Monday, September 13, 2010

The old Synagogue. Chios. Η παλιά Συναγωγή. Χίος.

A few years ago, there was an excavation under way to erect a new building in the town of Chios. During the works, they unearthed a beautiful old mosaic. Experts declared it was the floor of an old Synagogue, dating back to the 3rd century A.D. Among the other things shown, there are two peacocks, facing each other, a scene with some feline catching his prey, and some signs, written in ancient greek, of which i could make only a few words like "peace", "our house", "your servant(s)"..... The signs were not very clean to read everything.
Πριν μερικά χρόνια, σκαβοντας για τα θεμέλια μιας οικοδομής στην πόλη της Χίου, βρέθηκε ένα υπέροχο μωσαικό. Οι ειδικοί, απεφάνθηκαν πως ήταν το δάπεδο μιάς παλιάς Συναγωγής που χρονολογήθηκε στον 3ο αιώνα Μ.Χ. Ανάμεσα στις παραστήσεις των παγωνιών και ενός αιλουροειδούς που πνίγει την λεία του, φαίνονται και κάτι επιγραφές στα αρχαία ελληνικά, από τις οποίες εγώ μπόρεσα να ξεχωρίσω μόνο μερικές λέξεις, όπως "Ειρήνη", "ο οίκος ημών", "των δούλων σου"... Οι επιγραφές δεν ήταν σε κατάσταση καλή για να μπορέσω να διαβάσω περισσότερα.

13 comments:

Maia T said...

What an elaborated work, it is amazing how intact it is. Great find!

lotusleaf said...

An intricate work of art.

Anonymous said...

I don't hope weeds will ruin this masterpiece!
Great photos, Costas ;-)

dianasfaria.com said...

these mosaics are amazing finds, really beautiful!
I love your new banner shot too!

Out on the prairie said...

Nice area to visit. there is a lion eating prey, are there still predators like this in Greece?

Costea Andrea Mihai said...

piece of history!! congratulations!

Ρίκη Ματαλλιωτάκη said...

Στη Χίο ήσουνα Κωστή μου;

Καλα περνας βλεπω....και πάντα καλα να περνας

Nellie from Beyond My Garden said...

Our house - peace - your servants: Good thoughts for any house.

Neus said...

Interesting place to visit! Thank you Costas!

kiki said...

Τι ωραία ψηφιδωτά!

jennyfreckles said...

That's lovely - so old. Hope they find a way of continuing to preserve it.

Pat Tillett said...

I'm so envious of all the history in your part of the world...
I don't know if I'm ever going to make it there, but I sure hope to and I'm going to burn up my camera if I do...

mosaicology said...

σκέφτομαι να τα χρησιμοποιήσω !