Agencies-Gaza post
Israel discovers a 1,200-year-old palace in 5 meters underground
On Thursday, August 25, 2022, the Israeli Antiquities Authority and the Negev Bedouin Development Authority will open the excavations to the public free of charge.
Today, Tuesday, the Antiquities Authority in Israel announced the discovery of a 1,200-year-old palace more than 5 meters underground and dating back to the beginning of the Islamic era.
It was built around a central courtyard and has four wings with different rooms whose walls were decorated with murals, during an archaeological excavation conducted by the Antiquities Authority in Rahat in the Negev.
This Thursday, August 25, 2022, the Antiquities Authority and the Negev Bedouin Development Authority will open the excavations to the public free of charge.
Among the finds are “small fragments of decoration surviving from the frescoes, in a variety of brilliant colours. Some parts of the building were covered with stucco while very large kilns were discovered in other parts.”
According to Oren Shmuli, Dr. Elena Kogan Zahavi and Dr. Noah David Michael, heads of excavations at the Antiquities Authority, “This is a unique discovery.”
According to what the Israeli Channel 12 reported, quoting the heads of excavations in the Antiquities Selkat: “We were surprised to discover, at a depth of five and a half meters below the level of the courtyard, a system of stone vaults, which rose to a height of two and a half meters. The vaults were carefully constructed, in addition to networks Tunnels that have not yet been dug”.
They added, ‘It appears that the underground stone cabinets were intended to provide support and allow visitors to the house to walk safely and comfortably into the subterranean spaces – vaults where they could store food in a relatively cool place and protect yourself from the heat.’
