Page 131 - A Walk to Caesarea / Joseph Patrich

A Walk to Caesarea: A Historical-Archaeological Perspective 117

period in the third century, Vault 1 served as a Mithraeum (a shrine devoted to a Fig. 132a–b
god of Parthian origin who became popular among the soldiers of the Roman army,
mainly in the west, who disseminated his cult throughout the empire). This chapel Depiction of three Christian
was excavated by the American expedition led by Robert Bull (Fig 131a–c). saints with halos around
their heads, their hands lifted
a toward the heavens, with
trees on either side of them

b

Benches are arranged along its walls, as was customary; on its walls cultic Fig. 133
scenes were drawn; and on its ceiling – a star-studded sky. Also found was a round Mosaic of vine branches trellis
marble medallion, about 12 cm in diameter, showing a relief of Mithras dressed in with clusters of grapes
Anatolian costume and wearing a Phrygian cap, which were common in Persian
culture, stabbing the neck of the bull with a dagger (tauroctony), as a sacrifice to
the sun god – Sol. The medallion apparently was for private use, while a similar,
larger scene, which was not preserved, was probably drawn on the interior wall
(Fig. 29 above, p. 28). A spiral staircase and an opening at the western end of the
northern wall of the vault linked the vault and the shrine inside it to the level
above. This opening was blocked in a later phase.

In the Byzantine era the vaults were closed at their western end, and in front of
them a continuous south-north corridor was built. Beneath it ran a terracotta pipe
that fed the water tank of the octagonal fountain in the bathhouse of
the government compound. On the southern wall of Vault 11 a fresco
was preserved showing three Christian saints with halos around their
heads, their hands raised upwards, and at their sides, trees. It is now
in the Israel Museum (Fig. 132a–b). The purpose of the vault at that
stage in the history of the structure is unknown. Built to the west of
the corridor was a mosaic-paved hall depicting animals and human
figures within scrolls of vine branches with clusters of grapes (Fig. 133).