A Stunning Mosaic Appears

A 1500-year-old mosaic, depicting a map with streets and buildings, was discovered in Kiryat Gat by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). Buildings shown on the mosaic floors are a rare phenomenon in Israel. These are arranged along a main colonnaded street of a city, in a sort of ancient map. A Greek inscription indicates that the place depicted is the settlement Chortaso, in Egypt. This might refer to the origin of the church’s congregation.

Seventeen different colors of stones are used in preparing the mosaic. The investment in the raw materials and their quality are the best ever discovered in Israel. A Nile River landscape in Egypt consisting of a boat with a rolled-up sail, streets and buildings is depicted on the second carpet. The buildings are portrayed in detail and in three dimensions, and they have two-to-three stories, balconies and galleries, roofs, roof tiles and windows.