As our probe left unresolved questions about the drainage system (no, there was no channel through the wall from the House of Tyche), we expanded the probe just over a meter to the north. This photo shows today’s progress:

At the same time, we began to explore a second question requiring work in the field. In 2004, we noticed some mosaic on the east side of the protico next to the west wall of the church. We assumed then it was a earlier floor covered later by the flagstone floor. As it was next to the sole surviving bench, we assumed we might find similar mosaic in the lacunae for the other benches.

In the northern lacuna, we discovered fragmentary remains over 3.5m, sometimes 80 cm wide.

The same pattern of alternating inverted flowers (Avi-Yonah pattern B9) continues across the fragments. In the one wider fragment, a simple medallion appears to the west of the flower (21 tesserae). It consists of concentric circles (red, three white, and a yellow from outside in) with a simple cross of five tesserae in the middle. The small medallions repeat with thirty tesserae separating them.