Byzantine mosaic floor: The “extraordinary” floor was in a public building during the Byzantine Period in what is today Isreal, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The Byzantine period was between the 4th and 8th centuries BC.
The floor was uncovered during excavation of a large settlement in the fields of Kibbutz Bet Qama in the Bnei Shimon Regional Council between Ma’ahaz and Devira Junction.
The mosaic, which is well preserved, was decorated with geometric patterns and has designs of peacocks and doves pecking at grapes. The Authority considers the mosaic unique because of the large number of motifs incorporated in one carpet.
“The find of this mosaic is extraordinary; the size of it and the [condition] goes beyond what is usually found,” Davida Eisenberg Degen, an archaeologist with the Antiquities Authority told LiveScience. “This is an unusual find.”
Archaeologists in the Antiquities Authority are still trying to figure out what the building was used for. The site is along an ancient road and includes a church, residential buildings, and storerooms.
