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In the upper-left portion of the mosaic is a nude reclining female that is labeled in Greek as ΑΙΓΥ[ΠΥΟΣ] "Egypt." This is evidently "Euthenia, the consort of Nilus." (Murphy-O'Connor) "Her right elbow leans on a basket of fruit; in her left hand, she holds a cornucopia brimming with fruit." (Netzer and Weiss, p. 40)
In the Nile below her, from right to left, note the nude fisherman holding fish and a net, a lotus plant, a net with fish in it, and an alligator eating a fish.
The "Nile Festival Building" is the name given to a large house or public structure, that was uncovered by a team from the Hebrew University led by Ehud Netzer and Zeev Weiss. It measures 165 x 115 ft. Rooms were built around a central courtyard and the structure may have served as a Basilica. It is situated near the center of the Byzantine city on the east side of the Cardo—the main street of the city. It was built around A.D. 400 and was destroyed by an earthquake in the seventh century.
Netzer, Ehud and Zeev Weiss. “A New Mosaic Art from Sepphoris.” Biblical Archaeology Review 18, no. 6 (November/December, 1992): 36–43, 78.
Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome. The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide From Earliest Times to 1700. Revised and expanded Fifth ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
