Heptapegon - The Miracle of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes,2- Basilica. - Apse

The scene that is featured of a basket of bread and two fishes relates to the miracle of the bread and fish derived from all four Gospels but in most detail it is appears in the Gospel of John. The mosaic is featured where the miracle is considered to have taken place.There are four loaves of bread; two whole and two halved, each wih a cross mark on it. It is a unique represantaion of the scene in that it stands alone, without other symbolic motifs and relates to the location, therfore not wholly symbolic. The church is built on the site of where the miracle was thought to take place (about 350 AD). Originally the mosaic floor was damaged and repaired in 1984 by the Benedictines. The Biblical narrative does not specify the type of fish but in Christian tradition it is assumed to to be a local type from Lake Kinneret called Sarotherodon galilaeus, which often features in the miracle of St. Peter. Our mosaic features a fish with: a split dorsal fin, which is depicted as two separate elements along the back and is unlike the St. Peter fish. It is suggested by that the fish depicted here is not one of the local fish inhabiting the adjoining lake because the lake did not support fish with a split dorsal fin from Late Upper Paleolithic/early Epi-Paleolithic (LGM; 23,000 BP).The artisans who constructed the mosaic floor in the Byzantine period were not familiar with the ecosystem of the lake. They used their catalogue of Nilotic plants and animals, some of which were alien to Lake Kinneret, including the portrayed fish. They were apparently not even well acquainted with the story of the miracle because they placed in the mosaic basket four loaves of bread instead of five. The split dorsal fin of the fish of the mosaic floor suggests two Nilotic candidates for identification: mullets and Nile perches. The inscription below the alter reads:"..Lord remember Saouros". It is framed by a geometrical frame and has about tow letters missing. GOPHEN MOSHE AND LERNAU OMRY. IDENTIFICATION OF THE FISHES IN THE MOSAIC FLOOR OF 2 THE MULTIPLICATION CHURCH, TABGHA, LAKE KINNERET 3 (SEA OF GALILEE), ISRAEL 4.