Mosaic Industry

The Alexandrians excelled in the art of mosaic. It was known that the application of small stone cubes as wall coverings was difficult in the early centuries, but as the Alexandrians were knowledgeable about glass production, they began to use glass cubes as mosaic for walls instead. Glass cubes are more appropriate as wall coverings because of their light weight.

Glass also improved the appearance of mosaic for it made it more luminous and glossier. Also, they used gold and silver powder to cover the glass to make its appearance even more brilliant. Other materials were used as well, such as marble and imperial porphyry (which was purple-red). Alexandria was the center of glass and mosaic manufacture, and from there, glass cubes were exported to countries all around the Mediterranean.

Excavations at Kom El-Dikkah in Alexandria, which was a high-class residential area in Roman times, uncovered remains of private villas, where various marvelous mosaic floors were found in one of the villas; it is now known as "The Villa of the Birds". It was given that name because of the birds and geometrical designs of its decorative mosaics. Another great discovery was of a mosaic relief, which is now in the Museum of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The relief represents a dog wearing a red collar within a circular ornament in the center of the relief .