Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Mosaic of Date Palm
North African (Hammam Lif, Tunisia)
Not on view
Date palm trees have special meaning in the Mediterranean basin and along the Nile valley. Women eat dates to quicken labor, and funerary sites are often covered with date palm leaves. Mosaics like this one were commonly depicted in North African visual culture from the period and were found in various decorative settings. Some synagogue community members may have associated the image of the date palm with Jerusalem, as the Hebrew Bible describes this image in Solomon’s temple.
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