An exquisite 1,500-year-old mosaic has come to light in an excavation in southern Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Sunday.
The mosaic appears to have been the floor of a public building in a thriving Byzantine-era village on the site, near the modern-day kibbutz of Beit Kama. The precise role of the building in the life of the community is unknown.
The community, located along an ancient road leading north from Beersheba, also included a church, storerooms and pools for storing water.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories
Free Sign Up
Artists decorated the floor of the building with geometric patterns and depictions of birds like peacocks and doves. What makes the mosaic unique, beyond the high level of craftsmanship, is “the large number of motifs that were incorporated into one carpet,” according to the IAA statement.
The precise role of the building in the life of the community is unclear (photo credit: Israel Antiquities Authority/Yael Yolovitch)
In Byzantine times, the area around modern-day Beit Kama was home to both Christian and Jewish communities. At two other sites, Horbat Rimon and Nahal Shoval, archaeologists have unearthed ritual baths, signs of Jewish settlement.
The excavation is being conducted to allow the construction of a new traffic interchange.
[mappress mapid=”3912″]
I'm proud to work at The Times of Israel
I’ll tell you the truth: Life here in Israel isn’t always easy. But it's full of beauty and meaning.
I'm proud to work at The Times of Israel alongside colleagues who pour their hearts into their work day in, day out, to capture the complexity of this extraordinary place.
I believe our reporting sets an important tone of honesty and decency that's essential to understand what's really happening in Israel. It takes a lot of time, commitment and hard work from our team to get this right.
Your support, through membership in The Times of Israel Community, enables us to continue our work. Would you join our Community today?
Thank you,
Sarah Tuttle Singer, New Media Editor
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re serious. We appreciate that!
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we come to work every day - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
comments