See the Greek Biblical inscription embedded in an ancient mosaic floor discovered in Israel

Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient ruin complex Byzantine-era buildings in Israel. The structures include a wine press, a large warehouse and possibly a monastery with a colorful mosaic floor. There is a Greek inscription on the floor Deuteronomy: “Blessed are you when you come in and blessed are you when you go out.”

The ruins were discovered during excavations prior to the construction of a new district near the town of Kiryat Gat. According to one statement of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the monastery dates back to the fifth or sixth century AD, when the region was part of the Byzantine Empire.

“This is the largest and most important site from the Roman and Byzantine periods discovered in the region,” say excavation managers Shira Lifshitz And Maayan Margulis in the statement.

The researchers believe the site was continuously inhabited from the early Roman period (around the first century AD) to the end of the Byzantine period (at the end of the sixth century AD). However, as Margulis tells Haaretz‘s Ruth Schuster, the first human occupation of the site may have occurred some 6,000 years ago, during the Chalcolithic era or the Copper Age.

During the first few centuries AD, Christianity grew slowly spread by the Roman Empire. In the 300s, the Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity and a new Byzantine capital was founded in his name: Constantinoplewhich heralded the beginning of Byzantium golden age.

One of the destroyed buildings at the newly discovered site may have been a monastery. Among the remains, archaeologists found imported wares, metal and glass containers, coins and marble artifacts. In the main aisle of the building, they also unearthed a decorative mosaic floor with crosses, lions, doves, flowers, geometric patterns, an amphora (an ancient jar) and the Bible verse.

The monastery’s mosaic floor contains clusters of very small, subtly placed stones, Lifshitz says Haaretz– which are not common in Israeli archaeology.

“The mosaic discovered at Kiryat Gat is one of the most unique ever found in Israel,” Mark Avrahami, the IAA’s head of artistic conservation, said in the statement. The team plans to show the tile design to the public, but “transferring mosaics is a complex process that requires great skill and precision.”

The mosaic will first be taken to a workshop for conservation and then placed in an open area of ​​Kiryat Gat where the public can view it, Svetlana Talis, the IAA’s southern district director, said in the statement.

“The discovery of the site highlights the historical richness of Kiryat Gat and its surroundings, shedding light on the region’s central location in ancient times,” Talis said.

Other treasures of the site include a “highly sophisticated” wine press, complete with fermentation chambers and holding vats. Its development and maintenance likely required “significant financial resources, time and a range of professional work and efforts,” the statement said. Pottery artefacts and fragments suggest that the settlement may have included a ceramics factory.

The excavation has so far revealed the remains of ten buildings, and the true size of the settlement remains to be seen. As Margulis tells Haaretz“We have just started excavating the site.”