I was sent in 1996
to undertake a simple trial excavation to...
because the municipality of Lod wanted to widen the street,
and the first thing I found
was a white corner of a mosaic floor
and then we found a tail of a tiger.
And we saw immediately that this is of a marvelous quality.
After two months, I had the whole mosaic floor.
(soft music playing)
We are working on the conservation of the Lod Mosaic.
At the beginning, we didn't want to move the mosaic
from the place,
but when we decide to build there a museum,
and to excavate more,
was more wise to take out the mosaic
to have the space to dig and to build properly.
In this time,
we are proceeding to the lifting of the mosaic.
Now, first of all, come the careful cleaning.
The second is the very precise documentation
and the decision how to cut the mosaic.
To cut the mosaic, we dare to disturb the composition,
because the lifting is a very tricky process
and is a key moment of the conservation.
Not many mosaics have this quality
and this level of integrity,
and the mosaic is not touched.
(crowd murmuring)
In this moment, we are proceeding
of the gluing of the mosaic with cotton fabric.
After that come the cutting of the mosaic from the bedding.
We are dividing the mosaic
in the minimal possible fragments.
The detachment is a very important part
of the conservation process
and needs a lot of professional skills, experience, and power.
From this moment depends everything--
the future conservation
and the future success of the restoration.
We have in our hand
all the history of building of this mosaic
and discovered step by step how the mosaic was done.
Who did the mosaic?
We have the footprints.
The people walking on the mosaic to lay on the tessera.
With these footprints, we have the connection in time
between the people working on this mosaic
and us working again to conserve the mosaic
and to transfer the mosaic in the future.
The mosaic will be transferred to wooden platforms
and to transport the fragments to our laboratories in Jerusalem
to further conservation, construction of new supports.
The conservation process will take two years.
The building of the museum, a little bit more.
The first place to display the mosaic
will be the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
(lively traditional music playing)
(music ends)