Orpheus as David. Orpheus as Christ?

This article analyzes the very fine mosaic of early 6th-c. date from Jerusalem representing Orpheus with a lyre and Phrygian cap in its main panel, and that is now displayed in the Archaeological Museum in Istanbul. Accompanying the mythological musician are various animals he tames, and also a thoughtful-looking centaur and Pan, who does not play his pipes in deference to the sweet sounds made by Orpheus. Other panels in the same mosaic represent two female figures with their Greek names inscribed (donors or patrons?) and small scenes of hunters pursuing wild game. There is a clear contrast between the violent hunting episodes and the peaceful scene in the main panel. In contrast to several other scholars, the author favors interpreting the principal figure as Orpheus himself, and lacking any symbolic associations with Christ or King David. The exact archaeological context of the pavement from Jerusalem is unclear. Also there is no accompanying inscription to give the musician either a Christian or Jewish link as was found, for example, in a now badly damaged mosaic from a synagogue in Gaza, where Hebrew writing clearly associated its Orpheus figure with David. Rather, as Elsner convincingly claims, in the absence of an inscription, the mosaic image from Jerusalem reflects a continuing appreciation of pagan mythological subjects for their own sake among Jewish and Christian patrons of the Early Byzantine era.