Opus Sectile Floor Tiles from the Crusader Era

Unlike their Herodian counterpart, these tiles were cut from local stone, in units based on the inch. These tiles decorated the floors in the Dome of the Rock which was converted into a church – the Templum Domini during this period. Here, we have reconstructed floor patterns based on tiles found in the sifting. Similar patterns can be seen to this day in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and in the Dome of the Rock.

A Second Reconstructed Floor Pattern

For further reading:

F. Snyder, G. Barkay, and Z. Dvira, ‘Reconstruction of Crusader Floors in the Dome of the Rock Based on Picturesque Palestine Illustrations and Finds from the Temple Mount Sifting Project’, in Exploring the Holy Land: 150 Years of the Palestine Exploration Fund, ed. by David Gurevich and Anat Kidron (Sheffield: Equinox, 2019)

 

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