Stunning Byzantine Mosaic Uncovered in Israel

[Dennis]

In Israel, though apparently not Jewish.

Stunning Byzantine Mosaic Uncovered in Israel

http://news.yahoo.com/stunning-byzantine-mosaic-uncovered-israel-
133001119.html

LiveScience.comBy Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor |
LiveScience.com – May 13, 2013, 8:30 AM CDT

Here, a huge mosaic with geometric patterns that dates back to the
Byzantine Period and would have been used as the floor of a public
building in what is today Kibbutz Bet Qama, in the B'nei Shimon region
council in Israel.

View Photo

Here, a huge mosaic with geometric …

The mosaic discovered prior to construction of an interstate in
Israel, was decorated with geometric structures and amphoras, or vessels
for holding wine. The amphoras were also decorated, for instance, one was
flanked by a pair of peacocks.

View Photo

The mosaic discovered prior to …

Archaeologists have uncovered an "extraordinary" mosaic that would've
been used as the floor of a public building during the Byzantine Period
in what is today Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA)
announced.

The colorful mosaic and public building, whose ceiling was covered in
roof tiles, were uncovered in Kibbutz Bet Qama, in the B'nei Shimon
regional council, prior to the construction of a road between Ma'ahaz and
Devira Junction.

"The minute we started excavating we found the mosaic, before we found
the edges of the building," Davida Eisenberg Degen, an archaeologist with
the IAA, told LiveScience during an interview. [See Images of the
Byzantine Mosaic]

The mosaic would've extended the area of the main building, with a total
area about 40 feet long by 28 feet wide (12 meters by 8.5 meters).
Divided into three squares with circles within each, the mosaic was
decorated with "interwoven designs," Degen said. At each corner were
amphoras, or jars used to hold wine, and other designs, such as two
peacocks flanking an amphora, a dove and a partridge, and one amphora
with a pomegranate and a lemonlike fruit inside.

Though other areas of the site showed evidence of the practice of
Christianity, the public building seemed to have no religious
affiliation. The researchers aren't sure what it would've been used for
between the fourth and sixth centuries A.D.

"The find of this mosaic is extraordinary; the size of it and the
[condition] goes beyond what is usually found," Degen said. "This is an
unusual find."

In front of the building, archaeologists had also discovered pools and a
network of channels and pipes used to convey water between them. Steps
were uncovered in one of the pools, the walls of which were covered in
colored plaster, called fresco.

Archaeologists are trying to figure out the purpose of the building and
pools, though they say the construction of the structures would have
required considerable economic resources.

The site of the excavation is located on an ancient road that ran north
from Be'er Sheva and also includes a large estate with a church and a
large cistern surrounded by farmland. One of the structures likely served
as an inn for visitors, the researchers speculate.

During the Byzantine Period, Jewish and Christian settlements in the area
would have been situated next to each other. In fact, scientists just
excavated two nearby Jewish settlements: Horbat Rimon, which held a
synagogue and ritual bath called a miqwe, and the Nahal Shoval
antiquities site. Nearby Christian settlements include the churches at
Abu Hof in the Lahav Forest and a monastery at Givot Bar.