While building a museum for mosaics in Israel, another magnificent mosaic is found – Archeology

Another spectacular mosaic was found in the city of Lod, while doing some background work for a museum to house the spectacular mosaics already found in previous years.

The mosaic was found in a house dating back to the late Roman period, dating back to about 1700 years old. The quality of the stone indicates that the owner was extravagantly rich.

"The villa featured a large and luxurious mosaic paved triclinium reception room and an internal column with columns, also with mosaics, and a water system," says archeologist Amir Gorzalczany, director of the current search.

In fact, it is the third mosaic discovery in this structure – which, in embarrbading contrast to modern construction, seems to have existed for centuries.

The archaeological find indicates that the house survived in one form or another of the Roman era – the first century – in the late Roman era, towards the end of the third century or the beginning of the fourth century, says Gorzalczany.

Based on other houses of the Roman era found in the area, which also had mosaic decorations, it seems that this luxurious manse of yore had been in the neighborhood of 39; elite of the Roman Lod era, he says. The excavators of the Israel Antiquities Authority also found coins, ceramics and marbles from the Roman era, as well as other luxury signs such as fragments frescoes typical of the houses of Rome.

Who owned this beautiful house? The mosaic found only represents animals and nature. No one. But he has a motive of three fish in the middle – which boils down to nothing concrete, Gorzalczany clarifies.

One theory might be that the inhabitants had been Jews who avoided the human figure in the art because of divine prohibition. Or maybe the house belonged to the early Christians, based on the depiction of fish of the religion – but no other artifact typical of the Christian faith was discovered there, Gorzalczany points out. Or maybe the owners were pagans, clinging to old Roman beliefs.

The one who made this mosaic needed great tiling skills – which suggests that it was the same no one who had made quality mosaic found on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. It also represents very similar animals and geometric patterns. But instead of the three fish in the middle, the mosaic of Mount Zion presents the goddess Gaia. At least that is what we call 2000 years later. Then she called "Ge" in Greek, hence the word "geography" would appear, says Gorzalczany.

Move your car

The mosaics of Lod were discovered in 1996. What is becoming a cliché of Israeli archeology, the initial discovery was made by construction workers, building in this case a system of Sewers supervised by archaeologists. Someone noticed a little colored stone.

"It was a total surprise," says Gorzalczany. The quality of the work has been so extraordinary that the mosaic with its animal motifs has been presented around the world for display.

"The more the stones used in the mosaic are small, the more you can put in the picture and the better the quality – it's like pixels," explains Gorzalczany. "This quality was exceptional, with a vast array of colors and magnificent works of art, with shading, volume, play on light and darkness, and even the use of gilded stones and glbad tiles, which was very rare.

It was in 1996. Then, in 2014, excavators found another mosaic in what had been the yard of the house. Digging, archaeologists could see the corner of another peeping. But they could not get there because it was under the neighborhood car park.

Now, in 2018, as a result of the agreements reached with all concerned – including the neighbors who live there and who liked to park there – the mosaic glimpsed four years earlier was dug up. (The one found in 2014, meanwhile, was covered with earth for its preservation.)

Since the modern inhabitants of Lod are in the middle of the land, this new home must have been quickly preserved, rolled up like a mosaic of 1700 years, and moved.

they sleep?

At the time the looters noticed the corner of the "new" mosaic that was eyeing under the parking lot, they thought they had found the rooms of the old mansion. They did not have, they realized, rectangular markings on the floor that seemed to show where the sofas had been placed once so that the fancy elites could bow. In short, they think they have found a reception hall or secondary banquet.

In other words, the house was larger than originally thought and they have not yet found the rooms, which could have been on a second story – in which case they will not be found.

At this point, the mosaic was rolled up and taken away for careful preservation work by the Antiquities Authority.
"They will put all the stones back, strengthen them and clean them," says Gorzalczany, "working like doctors with scalpels, one stone at a time." Eventually, it will probably be housed in the future archaeological museum of Lod. , which will be called the Shelby White and the Leon Levy Lod Mosaic Center, which goes back to where it was found in the first place.