A farmer living in the Gaza Strip (Palestine) has made an extraordinary archaeological discovery on his land.
By digging the ground in his olive grove, he unearthed a magnificent mosaic from the Byzantine period, reports
Reuters
relayed by BBC News.
The Palestinian made this discovery six months ago when he wanted to plant an olive tree in his field located in the Bureij refugee camp, very close to the Israeli border.
The man did not understand why some trees did not take root properly.
With his son, he therefore decided to dig the ground to better anchor the new shrub.
A Palestinian farmer in Gaza unearthed a Byzantine-era mosaic while working in his olive orchard.
When asked what he thought about this find he said the following:
“I see it as a treasure, dearer than a treasure.
It isn't personal, it belongs to every Palestinian.”
pic.twitter.com/ARR6IaEoGM
— παιδί του επίκουρου 📚🏺 (@anciengreque) September 20, 2022
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An “archaeological treasure”
That's when his son hit something hard, reports the BBC.
The duo quickly unearthed a large mosaic mural.
Searching the Internet, the farmer quickly identified that it was a work dating back to Byzantine times.
Continuing the excavations, the two Palestinians found several other remains representing various animals.
The discovery has been called an “archaeological treasure” by experts.
"These are the most beautiful mosaic floors discovered in Gaza, both in the quality of the graphic representation and in the complexity of the geometry," said Jerusalem-based archaeologist Rene Elter, as quoted by
Geo
.
“Never have mosaic floors of this finesse, this precision in the graphics and a richness of colors been discovered there”, added the specialist.
Experts from around the world will now take over from the farmer and his son to continue the excavations and fully uncover this mosaic.
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Archeology
Gaza
Palestine
Farmers