Mosaics of Khirbet El-Mafjar Hisham's Palace

by Gene Gragg

"This is a presentation of beautiful colored mosaics. They originate from buildings in the oasis of Jericho and all date from the first half of the eighth century, during the time of Umayyad caliphate of the early Islamic period. Many visitors have had the privilege of seeing the mosaics revealed, but no one has experienced the impact of all these pavements since they were first excavated in the 1930s and 1940s. A few have been published, but the presentation in Hamilton and Grabar (1959) is only very fine aquarelle paintings from the originals. In 2010 the Department of Antiquities and...