Bene lava Bathing Shoes Mosaic
Mosaic Find in an Ancient Roman City
For more than five centuries, Rome was an empire and ruled over many countries around the Mediterranean on three continents. With great military discipline, high cultural and technical standards, ambition, but also with fights and intrigues within its own ranks, it continued its advance irresistibly against powerful countries of that time such as Greece or Egypt. With the victory over the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War in 146 BC, it also reached the supremacy over several countries in North Africa.
In an uninhabited region, a military colony was established in 100 AD by the legate of the Legio III Augusta, Lucius Munatius Gallus, under the Roman Emperor Trajan. 40 km east of the present-day city of Batna in Algeria lay the Colonia Marciana Traiana Thamugadi, in short, Thamugad.
Mosaic Set Bene lava Is Inspired by Thamugad
Today, Thamugad is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because its remains still well show the original structures of Roman city founding. Many buildings were excavated; besides a theater, there was a public library, a capitol, an aqueduct, and public baths.
In the bathing therms, a mosaic was found at the entrance of the house, showing two pairs of bathing shoes pointing in different directions. Made of brown, beige, and black stones, it still bears the inscription: Bene lava, which means "bathe well".
Whether this was the owner's wish for his guests to take a pleasant bath in his house or rather the friendly invitation to wipe their feet before entering the house, we do not know. What is certain, however, is that the sandals do not differ significantly from modern sandals that can be purchased in any shoe store today during summer.
The Mosaic Set Bene lava Bathing Shoes Consists of:
- Wooden board 10 x 10 cm
- Mosaic glue
- Mosaic stones
- Carbon paper for accurate transfer
- Template Bene lava
- Mosaic instructions
The Mosaic Set Bene lava Provides Insight into Footwear Fashion 2,000 Years Ago
The mosaic set Bene lava is well-suited for school and teaching, as this motif can clearly illustrate the connection from life in the ancient world to modern times.
Whoever examines the mosaic set Bene lava closely, feels transported back to Roman times.
Due to the similar colors and mosaic stones, the mosaic set Bene lava belongs to the more difficult mosaics; it trains manual dexterity and perception.
With the mosaic set Bene lava, it is easy to imagine the old Romans. Let's just start with the sandals!
Reduced template without text field from a Roman bath in present-day Timgad, Algeria
The second picture shows a marble copy by the mosaic artist Ramon Franco, Freiburg.
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