The mosaics portray the Twelve Apostles sitting beside an empty throne, evoking Christ's ascent to Heaven.

Beneath his feet alternating black and white tiles-circles on squares-stretched away to every corner of that great space, while a large mosaic at the center portrayed Ri'Neref, the most famous of all the Grand Masters of the Guild, his graybearded features somber, almost melancholic as he stared back across the ages.

In the northern nave of the southern basilica, a nilotic mosaic portrayed birds, animals and flowers.

Large mosaics in the show portray compositions that were fashionable at the time.

The mosaics, up to 28 feet wide, portray human and animal anatomical features with startling realism, blending colors almost as smoothly as if the medium were paint rather than little cubes of colored stone.

From the Delta region, an impressive wall-hung mosaic from the 3rd century BC portrays Berenice, wife of Ptolemy III.

The tympanum's mosaics portray "The triumph of Christ" in a work created by Domenico Morelli and whose original designs are retained in the Town Hall.

Jewish mosaics of the period portray people, animals, menorahs, zodiacs, and Biblical characters.