Detail of a mosaic floor from the triclinium (dining room) of a Roman villa

This mosaic is one of the most beautiful discovered in Israel, even though the center is missing and only the outer frame has been preserved. The locks of bearded faces in the corners of the mosaic sprout acanthus foliage inhabited by cupids and animals. Two panels depict events in the life of the mythological Greek hero Achilles. The first depicts Achilles' tutor, the Centaur Chiron, half-man half-horse; in the second features the princess Deidamia, in whose home Achilles hid disguised as a girl to avoid the Trojan War.