Horbat Midras: Grave Robbers Lead to New Mosaic Find in Israel

AP Photo

Exciting news from the Israeli Antiquities Authority.  Enjoy –  Nancie

An Archeological Discovery of Major Importance, Including a Public Building and a Large Beautiful Mosaic, was Uncovered in Salvage Excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority Conducted at Horbat Midras
 
An archaeological discovery, including an impressive mosaic floor that is large and beautiful and a church, was uncovered in excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority at Horbat Midras in the Judean Shephelah. Various scholars who visited the site during the excavation proposed identifying the place as the residence and tomb of the prophet Zechariah. 

                                                                         Ariel Schalit/AP

In recent months an archaeological excavation was conducted at Horbat Midras in the wake of an antiquities robbery during the course of which robbers attempted to breach and plunder an ancient underground complex.

Courtesy Israeli Antiquities Authority

Horbat Midras is known as the site of a large, important Jewish settlement that dates from the Second Temple period until its destruction during the Bar Kokhba uprising in 135 CE. Among the remains at the site are those of buildings, caves, agricultural installations and extensive hiding refuges. The site was identified by a number of scholars as the location of a major settlement and research of the site was begun in the late nineteenth century and continues until the present. In the 1980s a lintel bearing a unique decoration was discovered at the site. Due to the similarity between it and an identical lintel from the Horbat Nevoraya synagogue in the north of the country, Professor Amos Kloner and Dr. Zvi Ilan ז"ל put forward the theory that an ancient Jewish synagogue is located nearby.

Courtesy Israeli Antiquities Authority

Recently, in the wake of the illicit excavations there by antiquities robbers, the lintel was rediscovered by inspectors of the Israel Antiquities Authority Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery. Following the discovery, an excavation was carried out with the aim of revealing the secrets of the monumental building which the lintel belonged to. The excavation, on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, was directed by Amir Ganor and Alon Klein of the Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery.

A public building of impressive beauty dating to the Byzantine period, in which there are several construction phases, was exposed in the excavation. In the last two construction phases the building was used as a splendid church. However, based on the results of the excavation and as evidenced by the artifacts, it seems that this church is built inside a large public compound from the Second Temple period and the Bar Kokhba uprising which was used in the first construction phases of the compound. 

                                                                         Ariel Schalit/AP

The church, in its last phases, was built as a basilica, at the front of which is a large flagstone courtyard from which worshippers passed into an entry corridor. Through a shaped opening one enters into the nave where there were eight breathtaking marble columns that bore magnificent capitals which were specially imported from Turkey. At the end of the nave is a raised bema and on either side of the nave are two wide aisles. All of the floors in the building were adorned with spectacular mosaic floors decorated with faunal and floral patterns and geometric designs that are extraordinarily well preserved. Located behind the bema are two rooms, one paved with a marble floor and the other that led to an underground tomb devoid of any finds. Branching out beneath the entire building is a subterranean hiding complex in which there are rooms, water installations, traps and store rooms. This complex belongs to the large building from the Second Temple period which the Byzantine church was built into. Among the artifacts discovered in the hiding complex are coins from the time of the Great Revolt (66-70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba uprising (132-135 CE), stone vessels, lamps and various pottery vessels that are characteristic of the Jewish population from the settlement at that time. 

As previously mentioned, researchers who visited the site are of the opinion that this place is the residence and tomb of the prophet Zechariah. Ancient Christian sources identified the burial place of the prophet Zechariah in the village of Zechariah, and noted that his place of burial was discovered in 415 CE. The researchers believe that in light of an analysis of the Christian sources, including the Madaba Map, the church at Horbat Midras is a memorial church meant to mark the tomb of the prophet Zechariah. This subject will be examined and studied in the near future.

For the past month the Israel Antiquities Authority has been engaged in exposing the magnificent structure, unraveling its secrets and preserving the mosaic floors. In the coming days the spectacular mosaics will be covered and the planning process will begin for the conservation of the site and its future presentation to the public, as one of the sites selected for treatment within the framework of the prime minister’s national heritage project.

There is no doubt that the discovery is extraordinary and of great importance in terms of research, religion and tourism. 


More great photos with close ups from UPI  (Thank you, Sonia King) http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Features/Archeological-Excavations-in-Horbat-Midras-Israel/4566/5/