Mosaic of a Partridge

Original location: Jordan, Church of Elias, Mary, and Soreg, late 6th century A.D., Jerash

Current (2005) location: Jordanian Museum of Popular Traditions, Roman Theatre, Amman

A caged partridge, emblematic of the human soul imprisoned in its body, is visited by a free partridge within a grape-vine roundel, signifying the soul's life after death (or perhaps, that of a loved one.) The grape vine has six-lobed leaves; compare to the seven-lobed leaves on the previous page.