Israeli archaeologists unveiled a 1,200-year-old mansion on Tuesday, adding to their knowledge of the southern desert region where a mosque was recently discovered.
Described by the Israel Antiquities Authority as a “luxurious rural estate,” the house featured a marble-paved hallway and frescoed walls.
According to the IAA, it was the first building of its kind in the southern Negev desert and contained vaulted rooms around a central courtyard.
The remains of oil lamps were excavated in underground storerooms along with a cistern.
“The luxurious property and the uniquely impressive underground vaults testify to the means of the owners,” said a statement from the archaeologists who led the excavation.
“Their high status and wealth enabled them to build a luxurious mansion for residence and entertainment,” added Oren Shmueli, Elena Kogan-Zehavi and Noe D. Michael.
“We assume whoever lived here was a local ruler,” Michael told AFP, adding that such properties “are completely unknown in the Negev to this day.”
The site in the Bedouin town of Rahat is scheduled to open to the public on Thursday.
The property is near a rare mosque from the same period that Israeli archaeologists uncovered in June.
A few dozen Muslims may have been praying at the site at the same time, the IAA said.
The Muslim conquest of the region occurred in the first half of the seventh century.
“After we have completed the excavations (of the mansion), the plan is for this site to be preserved,” added Michael, among other discoveries such as the mosque.
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