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The territory of modern Jordan is related to different historical epochs. Many ancient civilizations and peoples left their mark there. Many events happened in Biblical history. The study of Jordan’s archaeological memorials became possible in the second half of the 20th century because of the unstable political situation in the Middle East and in Jordan. During last decades the researchers have being discovered many archaeological memorials of the early Byzantine epochs. The work is devoted to the description of the best-preserved early Byzantine floor. The mosaics were found in Jerash, Petra, Umm-er-Rasas, on Mount Nebo, and other historical sites in Jordan. The author gives his interpretation of the pictorial and ideological content of the compositions. The ruins of the Church of Cosmas and Damian in Jerash contain the largest surviving fragment of a floor mosaic (533). The complex geometric division of the composition, in addition to decorative functions, had a liturgical application and defined the position of the clergy during worship. The construction of the baptismal aisle of the basilica on Mount Nebo corresponds in style to their time (530), but it is unique in content and composition, consisting human figures interacting with animals. According to the author, comprehension of the construction is most productive in the context of with Biblical exegesis. Mosaics from the beginning of the 8th century St. Stephen’s Basilicas at Umm er Rasas reflect the topography of ancient Palestine. That memorial is not less significant than Madaba’s map of the Holy Land of the 6th century that was discovered previously. The floor mosaics of the main basilica of Petra deserve special attention. Petra is known as the largest cave necropolis. For all its tradition, the composition of mosaics admits of multiple interpretations, versions of which are presented in the work. Thus, the ruins of early Byzantine basilicas discovered in Jordan recently expand the subject area of the study of mosaic art from the 5th to the beginning of the 8th centuries. The mosaics of Jordan were organic part of the cultural space of the Middle East. The decorativeness of early Byzantine mosaics which are heritage of the ancient world, is complemented by a wider range of ideological religious elements. Each mosaic has both common stylistic features and unique ones. Each object is a work of mosaic art, which reflects the original vision of theological, liturgical, chronological and other interpretations of the mosaic authors. Islamization and iconoclasm forced mosaicists to remake mosaics. They tried to save the mosaics from complete destruction and spontaneously restored anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images. Many mosaic surfaces were destroyed due to the weakness of the solution or earthquakes. As a rule, the original plot of the mosaics was not recovered during the restoration. It means that the period of Christian mosaic art in this region was relatively short and ended due to islamization and iconoclasm. Территория современной Иордании тесно связана с разными историческими эпохами. Многие древние цивилизации и народы оставили здесь свой след. Немало событий вошли в библейскую историю. Но в связи с нестабильной политической ситуацией на Ближнем Востоке и, в частности, в Иордании полноценное изучение археологических памятников в регионе стало возможным только во второй половине XX столетия. В последние десятилетия исследователи открыли множество археологических памятников ранневизантийской эпохи. Работа посвящена описанию наиболее сохранившихся ранневизантийских напольных мозаик, обнаруженных в Джераше, Петрах, Умм-эр-Расас, на горе Нево и в других исторических местах Иордании. Дана авторская трактовка изобразительного и идейного содержания композиций. Остатки церкви Косьмы и Дамиана в Джераше содержат крупнейший из сохранившихся фрагмент напольной мозаики (533 г.). Сложное геометрическое членение композиции помимо декоративных функций имело литургическое применение, определяя положение духовенства во время богослужения. Сюжеты крестильного придела базилики на горе Нево по стилистике соответствуют своему времени (530 г.), но уникальны по содержанию и композиции, состоящей из человеческих фигур, взаимодействующих с животными. Осмысление данных сюжетов, по мнению автора, наиболее продуктивно в сочетании с библейской экзегетикой. Мозаики начала VIII в. базилики святого Стефана в Умм-эр-Расас отражают топографию древней Палестины. Этот памятник не менее значим, чем ранее открытая карта Святой Земли VI в. в Мадабе. Особого внимания заслуживают напольные мозаики главной базилики города Петры, более известного как крупнейший пещерный некрополь. При всей своей традиционности композиция мозаик допускает множественное толкование, версии которого представлены в работе. Таким образом, недавно открытые в Иордании остатки ранневизантийских базилик расширяют предметную область изучения мозаичного искусства V – начала VIII в. Мозаики Иордании являлись органичной частью культурного пространства Ближнего Востока. Декоративность ранневизантийских мозаик, унаследованная от эпохи античности, существенно дополнена более широким спектром религиозных идей. При общих стилистических особенностях и подобии визуальных элементов каждый объект является уникальным произведением мозаичного искусства, отражающим оригинальность теологических, литургических, хронологических и иных взглядов авторов мозаик. Арабская экспансия и иконоборчество VIII в. вынуждало авторов мозаик перекладывать стихийным набором антропоморфные и зооморфные изображения с целью недопущения полного уничтожения работ. Реставрация утрат декоративного слоя напольных мозаик, возникавших по причине слабости раствора или землетрясений, производилась, как правило, без восстановления первоначального сюжета. Это говорит об относительно коротком периоде христианского мозаичного искусства и его резкой утрате в данном регионе по причине исламизации и иконоборчества.

Although Nabataean Painted Fine Ware (NPFW) has been examined in light of Stephan Schmid’s chronological typology since the late 1990s, few stratified contexts with NPFW from outside Petra have been published, and none derived from contexts occupied continuously from the Nabataean through Byzantine periods. Questions remain about the dating of later dekorphases (3–4) due to a lack of contexts. This paucity is remedied, however, by Area K at Roman Aqaba/Aila, Jordan. Area K was a domestic complex, just inside the later Byzantine city wall, excavated from 1994 through 2002. Using associated numismatic evidence and imported fine wares (primarily Eastern Sigillata A and African Red Slip), this paper argues that NPFW Dekorphase 3b appeared at Aila in the second half of the 1st century CE, and Dekorphase 3c appeared shortly afterwards, around the time of the Roman annexation in the beginning of the 2nd century.

The remains of a Nabataean private complex located west of the Roman-period apsidal building in the Qasr al-Bint area of Petra, excavated by the French archaeological team between 2005 and 2008, turned out to be reused by squatters during the Roman period. This occupation phase, one of the latest in this complex, was of a domestic nature, characterized by the installation of ovens (tawabeen) and other fireplaces, as well as the installation of a channel in the courtyard. The large assemblage of well preserved, often complete pottery vessels from the corresponding levels was dated by coins and Nabataean pottery, supported by radiocarbon datings, to the second half of the 2nd and the early 3rd centuryCE. Consequently, the group offers the opportunity to study a homogeneous corpus of ceramic material from a period that is not at all well documented in Petra. The repertoire includes all kinds of vessels, especially cooking pots, small storage jars and drinking vessels. In addition, a set of multi-nozzled lamps was associated with this group.

The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the period of Petra’s passage from paganism to Christianity, which saw the deterioration of pagan beliefs and the struggle for survival between paganism and Christianity. The recognition of Christianity as the official religion of the Byzantine Empire in 313 AD did not mean that paganism had disappeared from Petra. In fact, most of the Nabataean temples in the city remained open until the second half of the 4th century AD, when the city was hit by the earthquake of 363. It was this event that had the greatest impact on the abandoning of the city’s temples, such as the Temple of the Winged Lions, the Temple of Qasr el-Bent and the Great Temple. The historical and archaeological evidence confirms the construction of a numer of churches in Petra, which received considerable attention from the Christian clergy and the administration of the city during the 5th and 6th centuries AD.