Phoenix Mosaic from Antioch

Mosaic pavement featuring a phoenix on a background of roses. From a private house in Daphne, a suburb of Antioch-on-the-Orontes (modern-day Antakya, Turkey), late 5th century. The phoenix symbolizes immortality. The border design is made up of a repeated motif of two confronted rams' heads set on a pair of open wings with gray ribbons fluttering below. Very similar motifs have been found on textiles, rock carvings, seals and metalwork of the Sassanian period. Marble and limestone, 30 x 82 in. Louvre Museum, Paris, N° Inv. Ma 3442. Louvre Museum, Paris, France.