Mushav Aluma Mosaic additional notes of interest.
â€Among the animals depicted in the mosaic are a wild boar, a pair of mice, a giraffe, zebra, flamingo, partridge, leopard, bear, rabbit, a cage containing what appear to be birds, a pair of peacocks and a chameleon. One of the medallions, which is believed to have contained the image of a human being, was carefully destroyed.’'
http://www.haaretz.com/.premium-1.570046
Rabbit-Lepus is a constellation lying just south of the celestial equator, immediately south of Orion. Its name is Latin for hare.
Chameleon-is a small constellation in the southern sky. It is named after the chameleon, a kind of lizard
Birds-Southern Bird Constellations.
Grus is a constellation in the southern sky. Its name is Latin for the crane, a species of bird.
Pavo-is a constellation in the southern sky with the Latin name for peacock.
Phoenix- is a minor constellation in the southern sky. Named after the mythical phoenix.
Tuscan- is a constellation of stars in the southern sky,. Other names Beak Bird, Toucan,
Hornbill, Goose, maybe Pelican
Just want to add, many cultures have found birds depicted in the stars. These might not be the correct birds in the
mosaic. I'm just trying to point out that this mosaic is astrological. It's telling a story, just have to figure out what.
Fox-Vulpecula is a faint constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for “little fox”, although it is commonly known simply as the fox. On one of the medallions, you can see the face of a fox, body has been weathered away, or destroyed.
Zebra-is a constellation in the Northern Sky. It was one of the 49 Constellations classified by Ptolemy, and remains one of the 89 constellations today.
Giraffe-Camelopardalis is a large but faint constellation in the northern sky.
Boar-The Boar-In ancient times the wild boar represent the constellation that later became
The Great Bear Ursa Major. Or the boar could be a smaller boar that is represented
by the stars that are represented in the constellation Lynx.
Now the pair of mice really has me baffled. One mouse I can find, not two mice. Someone suggested to me to just think of “the twins”. I don’t understand why they would be depicted as mice. I did find something about Mice Galaxies, that’s really interesting. I just doubt that the people back then would have known of them.
Here’s the “Aluma Mice Medallion” from the mosaic. I did check into rats too, no luck.
http://imagehost.vendio.com/preview/di/dianestreasure/1alumamice.jpg
Here’s the Mice Galaxies
http://imagehost.vendio.com/preview/di/dianestreasure/1micegalaxy.jpg
"The Mice Galaxies are two spiral galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices. About 290 million light-years away, they began the process of colliding and merging about 290 million years ago. Their name refers to the long tails produced by tidal action—the relative difference between gravitational pulls on the near and far parts of each galaxy—known here as a galactic tide. Members of the Coma cluster, it is a possibility that both galaxies have experienced collision, and will continue colliding until they coalesce."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mice_Galaxies
I just don’t think the two mice in the mosaic have anything to do with these Mice galaxies, but I could be wrong. If anyone has an idea about those 2 little mice, or rats, please share. I’m going nuts trying to find mice! Need a mouse trap. ![:slight_smile: :slight_smile:](/images/emoji/twitter/slight_smile.png?v=12)
There is one more route I could take with the mice. The articles about the Aluma sight mention two church leaders named Demetrios and Herakles. I knew Herakles to be Hercules. I found where a Demetrius, (spelled with a u), and Herakles linked. This is a coin depicting him with Herakles on the back side.
http://imagehost.vendio.com/preview/di/dianestreasure/1alumademetrius.JPG
Love the hat! Now they say this hat has to do with his conquests in India. But maybe he’s trying to be like Ganesha. Just a thought. That would tie in at least one mouse.
In Ancient Greece, the destructive side of Apollo was called Smitheos or Apollo Smintheus from the Greek word "sminthus" which means "mouse." Sacred mice were kept in his temple and he was believed to shoot the arrows of plague. Strangely enough, under his beneficent aspect, Apollo guarded the harvest from infestations of mice. Rats are the companions and mounts of gods such as the elephant-headed Ganesha of the Hindus and the Japanese Daikoku, god of wealth and good fortune. Mice were associated with Jupiter or Zeus and, because of their lasciviousness, Aphrodite (a.k.a. Venus), the love goddess
There’s another route to take finding this Demetrios fellow if this is the wrong guy. I haven’t gotten there just yet. Best to post what I have before it gets lost in space. To read more about the Demetrius on the coin pictured above you can link to wiki here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demetrius_I_of_Bactria