(ORDO NEWS) — Israeli archaeologists have discovered in the Negev desert in the south of the country an ancient estate with surviving frescoes, the age of the villa is estimated at 1.2 thousand years.
This was announced on Tuesday by the Department of Antiquities of the Jewish State.
The discovery was made during excavations in the city of Rahat in the Negev, this is the first luxury estate of this age found in the region, the department noted.
According to archaeologists, the building belongs to the early Islamic period (VIII – IX centuries AD), it consisted of four wings with residential and office premises and a central courtyard.
In one of the wings there was a hall paved with marble and stone, its walls were decorated with frescoes.
On the found fragments of the painting, yellow, blue and black paints were preserved, the department of antiquities noted. Other finds include large ovens, probably used for cooking, as well as fragments of glassware.
Archaeologists called the main discovery a complex of vaulted rooms at a depth of 5.5 m underground. The vaults, which have ceiling heights of up to 2.5 meters, “were very carefully built, and probably led to additional underground complexes that have not yet been discovered,” the researchers note.
According to the director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Eli Escosido, “The excavated estate in Rahat was discovered between two ancient mosques, perhaps one of the earliest ever discovered.”
“We are very fortunate that the remains of Islamic buildings were discovered in the area planned for the expansion of the city of Rahat, which aroused great interest from the local population.
The Antiquities Authority and the Bedouin Development and Settlement Authority plan to jointly preserve this site and open it to the general public,” – the press service of the administration quotes him as saying.
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