The Old Diaconicon Baptistery

The three apsed cella (cella trichola) preceded by a courtyard. In August 531 AD a Diaconicon Baptistery built to the north of the courtyard against one of the funeral chapels. reached by a short flight of stairs, as it was one meter lower than the floor of the courtyard.

This rectangular room contained the baptismal stone fountain fashioned in the form of a cross and coated with a thick layer of time plaster. Two Greek inscriptions show the date of the mosaic floor (August 531), the name of the mosaicists, Soel, Kaium, and Elias, and the name of the Bishop of Madaba, Elias.

In it's decorative scheme, the mosaic floor divided into three distinct panels in floor registers depicting pastoral and hunting scenes.

Mount Nebo Guide: The Old Diaconicon Baptistery | The 5th-7th Century Basilica | The New Diaconicon | The Theotokos Chapel