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A Palestinian farmer in the Gaza Strip has discovered a rare mosaic on his property.
The man said he stumbled across an olive tree last spring while planting it and quietly dug it with his son over several months.
Experts say the ornate Byzantine period mosaics are among the greatest archaeological treasures ever found in Gaza.
The discovery has sparked excitement among archaeologists, and the region’s Hamas ruler is planning a major announcement in the coming days.
But it also calls for better protection of Gaza’s antiquities, a fragile collection of sites threatened by a lack of awareness and resources, as well as the risk of ongoing conflict between Israel and local Palestinian militants.
The mosaic was found just half a mile from the Israeli border. There are 17 portraits of animals and birds on the floor, well-preserved and colorful.
“These are some of the most beautiful mosaic floors ever found in Gaza, both in terms of the quality of the graphic representation and the complexity of the geometry,” said archaeologist Rene Elter from the French School of Biblical and Archaeology in Jerusalem.
“Never have such detailed, precise patterns and richly coloured mosaic floors have been found in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
Mr Elter said the mosaic pavement dates back to between the 5th and 7th centuries. But he said proper excavations would have to be carried out to determine exactly when it was built and whether it was part of a religious or secular complex.
Mr Elter, who has conducted research in Gaza in the past, was unable to access the website but viewed a series of photos and videos taken by local research partners.
The Gaza Strip, a Palestinian coastal enclave sandwiched between Israel and Egypt, was a bustling trade route between Egypt and the Levant in ancient times. The coastal strip is full of remnants of ancient civilizations, from the Bronze Age to the Islamic and Ottoman times.
However, these treasures are rarely protected. In the past, they have been looted. In recent years, some have been damaged or destroyed by development projects or fighting with Israel.
The Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after the Hamas militant group took over Gaza in 2007 has devastated the economy, leaving few resources to protect the heritage.
Hamas itself has paid little attention to protecting the sites as it struggles to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population.
More than 2.3 million people crammed into the strip’s 115 square miles. In 2017, Hamas bulldozers destroyed much of a site containing the remains of a 4,500-year-old Bronze Age settlement to build a housing project for its employees.
Earlier this year, bulldozers digging for an Egyptian-funded housing project in northern Gaza uncovered a Roman-era tomb.
Gaza’s few well-preserved sites include St. Hilarion’s monastery from the late Roman Empire to the Islamic Umayyad period, and the ruins of a Byzantine church restored by international aid and opened this year in the northern Gaza Strip.
While the sites also have mosaics, Mr Elter said the latest find in the central Gaza town of Bureij was “special”.
The antiquities department run by Hamas described the mosaics as “a major archaeological find” but declined to comment further, saying an official announcement would be made at a later date.
The landowner, who declined to be named until the official announcement, has covered the excavated portion of the mosaic floor with tinfoil. He said he wanted compensation for protecting the unique find on his property.
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