# Reconstruction and Visualization of the Mosaic Floor of the Temple of Pitiunt Hillfort
## 3 Results and Discussions
### Apse
#### 3.3.3 Date Palm Panel  
In the central part of the apse, in front of the platform, there is a panel with a date palm. It forms the semantic core of the temple mosaic, together with the chrismon of the platform and the composition with deer. The date palm, known for its endurance, fertility and strength, has been used since Hellenistic times to symbolize victory, life and fertility. The palm branch, appearing among simple, early Christian symbols, represented triumph over death and symbolized vitality and the promise of eternal life [38]. As a symbol of the transition from martyrdom to eternal heavenly life, the date palm often becomes an important attribute in the decoration of sarcophagi and martyrias. An example is the Sarcophagus of [PERSON] from the 5 th century, Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna with a plot similar to that of Pitiunt: the monogram \"[PERSON]\", palms and symmetrically arranged artiodactyl animals (lambs) and a mosaic from the tomb Tall Bi'a, Syria (early 5 th century) [38]. Approximately 40% of the upper and central part of the Pitiunt panel with the date palm has survived. The Pitiunt palm is stylistically close to the palm from the church of the Diaconate of Jabaliyah, Palestine (5 th century) [23]. However, it is much simpler. The palette is poor and is represented mainly by three shades: red, black and white. Inclusions of other color tones are caused by a heterogeneous color set. The panel has a white border with a black contour, which surrounds a red, rectangular field. In the center, bordered by a twisted rope, there is a medallion depicting a red date on a white background. The head of a white fallow deer reaching for a palm, a black vine with leaves and a bird are depicted on the north side of the medallion. The upper parts of some trunks or cypresses can be seen on either side of the medallion. The trunks are painted in black and red with the addition of white lines (Figure 10a). The design of this panel is simple and not overloaded with details; therefore, we can easily restore it. [PERSON]. [PERSON] notes that \"a significant piece of the left half of the mosaic discovered during excavations and separate fragments of the right half allow us to assert that its composition was symmetrical and that a date palm with hanging fruits served as its centre. The semantic centre was a deer or a lamb facing it. On the right-hand side, in the lost half of the mosaic, it would have corresponded to the second deer or lamb\" [8]. Taking this opinion into account, we have depicted two fallow deer symmetrically from the medallion, while, by an analogy with the \"Panel with Deer and Fountain of Living Water\" and the animals in an acanthus frieze, we have shown a female fallow deer to the left of the medallion and a male to the right. In early Christian iconography, images of various artiodactyls were used to denote the belieres. Figure 10: The panel with date palm: (**a**) photo of the reproduction from the exposition of the Pitsunda Archaeological Museum (photo by the authors, [PERSON]) and (**b**) its reconstruction. To the right of the medallion, the upper part of a certain black detail has been preserved, which we tend to regard as a fragment of a vine leaf, on the basis of which we have placed a vine here, symmetrically to the left. There were some difficulties with the reconstruction of the lower part of the stems or leaves, which are located on both sides of the panel. [PERSON]. [PERSON] defined them as cypresses [8]. [PERSON] writes about them as leaves, apparently of a tropical plant [7]. Obviously, there are similar variants of images of different plants in Late Antique and early Christian mosaics; however, almost all of them accompany plots with images of animals.