Byzantine Mosaic floor at Kibbutz Beit Kama in the Negev. Photo: Courtesy, Israel Antiquities Authority
A 1500 year old Byzantine era mosaic floor was
discovered under the fields of Kibbutz Beit Kama in the Negev, the
Antiquities Authority announced on Sunday. The mosaic was discovered by
the authority prior to the imminent paving of the southern extension of Highway 6, the Trans-Israel Highway.
The red, black, and yellow mosaic has images of birds, geometrical shapes, and different types of local flora.
The mosaic was discovered along with a group of structures, pools and a system to move water in a rescue dig that the Authority was carrying out prior to the paving of the highway, Israel Radio reported. The radio quoted the Antiquity Authority's southern district archaeologist, Yigal Yisrael, who said that the mosaic was preserved almost in its entirety despite lying just below the soil of the kibbutz's fields.
The Antiquities Authority and the Trans-Israel Highway company invited the public to see the archaeological site this coming Thursday.
