4 October 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

1,500-year-old mosaic found near the Caliph’s palace at Khirbat al-Minya on the Sea of Galilee

Archaeologists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz uncovered an ancient mosaic that once lay in the shadow of a caliph palace on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in present-day Israel.

The mosaics predate the nearby Umayyad-era palace known as Khirbat al-Minya, which was built during the reign of the early Islamic Caliph, Walid I, from 705 to 15 C.E., along the northern shore of Lake Tiberias.

The site was once an important trade hub, centering around sugar production, and the Caliph’s son commissioned the palace, which included one of the first mosques erected in the Palestine region. The area suffered damage from a major earthquake around 749 C.E. and was later abandoned.

The plants depicted in one of the mosaics are especially noteworthy because they have the same long, curved stems seen in so-called Nile-scene mosaics made in the fifth and sixth centuries. The mosaic’s depictions of native Nile Valley plants and animals served as a symbol of the mighty river’s life-giving power, with its yearly floods ensuring Egypt’s agricultural fertility. That explains why opulent homes in late antique cities as well as late antique churches, like the one in the nearby Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha, were decorated with mosaics depicting the Nile.

A view of the excavation shows the mosaic floor with the Nile plants on the left, and the remains of another colored mosaic floor above a filled cistern on the right, which was probably almost completely excavated in the early Middle Ages. Photo: © Hans-Peter Kuhnen.
A view of the excavation shows the mosaic floor with the Nile plants on the left, and the remains of another colored mosaic floor above a filled cistern on the right, which was probably almost completely excavated in the early Middle Ages. Photo: © Hans-Peter Kuhnen.

The recently discovered mosaic and associated ceramic discoveries from the fifth to the seventh centuries demonstrate that the settlement on the lake’s shores was already thriving centuries before construction on the caliph’s palace had started. A small Islamic community later joined the area’s original inhabitants, who were either Christians or Jews, and the caliph had a side entrance built for them in the early 8th century so they could access his palace mosque. The site was still occupied from the 7th to the 11th century, according to the ceramics that have been discovered, and was under the control of the Umayyad and then the Abbasid caliphates.

During this time, new construction projects were initiated, and parts of the mosaics were destroyed by pickaxes wielded by religiously inspired iconoclasts, sections of old walls were demolished, and the stones were transported away for reuse elsewhere. The ruins eventually served as the site of a cemetery where the deceased was buried according to Muslim tradition by lying on their side and facing Mecca.

At the location, archaeologists made another important discovery. Along with the mosaic, they also discovered a stone furnace that had previously been used to process a lot of sugar cane.

During the Middle Ages, sugar was one of the region’s top exports. However, its production came at a high cost. Ancient people used a lot of water and wood to make sugar. This resulted in extensive soil erosion and environmental decay, to the point where some areas around the lake have yet to recover — even centuries later.

Student recording the outlines of the mosaic, with a tall waterside plant with blossoms and small green leaves on three stems in the exposed portion and the stern and rudder of a boat on the lower left. Photo: © Hans-Peter Kuhnen.
Student recording the outlines of the mosaic, with a tall waterside plant with blossoms and small green leaves on three stems in the exposed portion and the stern and rudder of a boat on the lower left. Photo: © Hans-Peter Kuhnen.

“It was here that considerable money was subsequently made through the cultivation of sugar cane, sadly causing lasting damage to the ecosystem,” site director Hans-Peter Kuhnen noted in the university press release.

Johannes Gutenberg Universıtat Mainz

Cover Photo: AcClose-up of the mosaic shows a flowering plant. In the foreground are traces of the marks made by a pickaxe when the mosaic was deliberately destroyed. Photo: © Hans-Peter Kuhnen.

Banner
Related Post

A rare Saint George seal was found during excavations near Suzdal

27 June 2023

27 June 2023

The archaeological survey of the Suzdal Opole, initiated by the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences more...

A new study attributes Japanese, Korean and Turkish languages all to a common ancestor in northeastern China

11 November 2021

11 November 2021

According to a new study, modern languages ranging from Japanese and Korean to Turkish and Mongolian may have had a...

The excavation, which started in a cave in Turkey’s Mardin, turned into a huge underground city

19 April 2022

19 April 2022

In an underground city known used as a settlement in the early Christian era, in the Midyat district of Mardin,...

Ötzi the Iceman Had Dark Skin, Bald Head and Anatolian Ancestry -New study rewrites ancient history

17 August 2023

17 August 2023

New DNA analysis by German researchers shows that the famous glacier mummy Ötzi may have had dark skin, dark eyes,...

Part of lost star catalog of Hipparchus found hidden in Medieval parchment

22 October 2022

22 October 2022

Hipparchus’ fabled star catalog, which had been thought to be lost, was discovered concealed in a medieval parchment that had...

Marble inlay floors found in a Sunken Roman villa in Baia, the Las Vegas of the ancient world

9 April 2023

9 April 2023

Expansion of research activities in the Terme del Lacus area in the sunken Baia park, known as the ‘Las Vegas’...

Archaeologists Unearth Carolingian Silver Treasure Hoard

6 May 2021

6 May 2021

A silver treasure hoard from the 9th century AD has been discovered in Poland‘s Osa and Drwęca basin. The hoard...

Ancient winery site uncovered in China’s Hebei

5 January 2022

5 January 2022

In northern China’s Hebei region, an ancient winery going back 400 years to the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties...

Israeli researchers have found evidence of cooking fish 780,000 years ago at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov

14 November 2022

14 November 2022

Hominins living at Gesher Benot Ya’akov 780,000 years ago liked their fish to be well cooked, Israeli researchers revealed Monday,...

New Insights From Researchers About The World’s Longest Aqueduct

11 May 2021

11 May 2021

The Roman Empire’s aqueducts are magnificent specimens of the art of architecture. Although centuries have passed since these aqueducts were...

Iraqis Disliked El Nouri Mosque’s Restoration Plan

18 April 2021

18 April 2021

UNESCO recently announced that the El Nouri mosque, which was bombed by ISIL(The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant),...

8000-year-old with balcony architectural structure belonging to the Prehistoric period found in Anatolia

31 October 2021

31 October 2021

During the excavations in Domuztepe mound, it was revealed that an architectural structure thought to be 7-8 thousand years old...

Medieval Islamic glass of Scottish Caerlaverock Castle reveals untold histories

23 October 2022

23 October 2022

Discovered by archaeologists at Caerlaverock Castle, eleven kilometers south of Dumfries on Scotland’s south coast, a trio of Islamic glass...

Evidence of Brain Surgery performed 3,000 years ago discovered in the ancient city of Tel Megiddo

27 February 2023

27 February 2023

Researchers have discovered a rare instance of delicate cranial surgery, possibly the earliest of its kind in the Middle East,...

10,000-year-old Settlement Discovered in Turkey’s Şanlıurfa

25 June 2021

25 June 2021

A Neolithic settlement was discovered in the garden of a house in the Sayburç Neighborhood of Şanlıurfa’s Karaköprü district. News...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *