Villa of the Birds Mosaics

How did the ancient Romans decorate the floors of their homes?

Bird Mosaic after Restoration (2006-12) by Edwin C. BrockAmerican Research Center In Egypt (ARCE)

The Villa of the Birds

This early Roman villa, located in Alexandria, Egypt, gets it's nickname from this charming bird mosaic. Each panel showcases a different type of bird.

The Villa of the Birds

This room was a bedroom, or cubiculum. The floor mosaic combines animal motifs, a braided border, and geometric shapes along the edge.

Mosaic with Panther (2008-01) by Robert K. VincentAmerican Research Center In Egypt (ARCE)

This room, which was accessed from the courtyard, also used both geometric and animal designs.

At the center is an elegant panther. It is made up small red, blue, purple, black, and white pieces of stone.

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Credits: Story

The conservation of the Villa of the Birds was carried out from February 1998 to June 1999 financed by ARCE, through the  Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP), and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Supplemental work including landscaping and construction of visitors’ roads was carried out by Polish Egyptian Preservation Mission sponsored jointly by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Polish Center of Archeology. Read more at arce.org
 
Story Created by Tessa Litecky, ARCE    

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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