A vast complex that housed a Byzantine-era monastery – which contained a unique mosaic – was recently unearthed near the southern town of Kiryat Gat, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement. press release published Monday.
The monastery site, which was previously unknown, contains a unique mosaic floor with a biblical inscription from the Book of Deuteronomy and a winery.
Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have called the monastery “the most important and significant site to have been discovered in the region” from this period. The mosaic, for its part, is “one of the most unique ever found in Israel,” said Mark Avrahami, who directs the Authority’s art conservation work.
To not miss any of the news,
receive the Daily Headline on your email
By registering, you agree to the terms of use
The complex was discovered during work linked to the development of a new district built to the north of the city. Most of it dates from the Byzantine period (i.e. the 5th and 4th centuries BCE), although an earlier layer dates back to the late Roman period, about 600 years earlier, the researchers said.
The main mosaic floor is decorated with images of “crosses, lions, doves, an amphora, [et] of flowers and geometric patterns” created “from very small stones”. A biblical inscription in Greek appears at its center: “You will be blessed when you come, and you will be blessed when you leave (Deuteronomy 28:6). »
The mosaic will be transferred to a workshop of the Israel Antiquities Authority where it will undergo preservation work. It will then be returned to Kiryat Gat as part of a future exhibition which will allow the public to discover this treasure, they added.
Near the main monastery building, archaeologists also unearthed “a very sophisticated wine press” which, they say, was repaired several times. Which indicates “that the construction and development of this winery required significant financial resources, time and a whole series of works and efforts”.
The fermentation rooms are covered in a mosaic floor with “blue and white stones integrated into each other.” On the coated surfaces of the tanks there are remnants of red paint. The floor of the vat located further north was designed using slabs which still contain Greek letters, which served as “worker’s marks for the builders of presses”, explained the researchers.
In and around the site, researchers found “a large quantity of imported objects, coins, marble elements [et] metal and glass containers” – which testifies to the wealth and importance that the complex could have had in the past.
The site, which included the monastery itself and the surrounding community, lies “at a central crossroads that connected the mountainous region to the coastal plain.” It apparently served small towns in the region as well as passing travelers, noted Shira Lifshitz and Maayan Margulis, who led the excavation.
The area had begun to develop in the late Roman period – around the 1st century CE. The archaeologists added “that in the Byzantine period, from what can be observed, there was a significant expansion of human settlements, including the construction of the monastery and the wine press.”
Shira Lifshitz, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, with a small ceramic bottle discovered during excavations of an excavated Byzantine-era monastery near Kiryat Gat, an image published on January 6, 2024. (Credit : Emil Aladjem/Israeli Antiquities Authority)
The site also contained evidence of the existence of a local pottery industry, with “detritus typical of a ceramic factory, garbage pits, misshapen vessels from faulty production and even some number of vessels that appear unique to this site.
Kiryat Gat, a town east of Ashkelon with a population of approximately 65,000, is also home to the site of Tel Erani, an important settlement dating from the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages. Iron and which would have been a Philistine city. “Gat” means “press” in Hebrew.
