{"id":12413,"date":"2025-01-13T11:58:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=12413"},"modified":"2025-01-13T11:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T16:58:42","slug":"byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html","title":{"rendered":"Byzantine-era Monastery with Bible Inscription Uncovered in Kiryat Gat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Israel Antiquities Authority \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of a 600-year-old Byzantine-era monastery buried near the city of Kiryat Gat. The previously unknown monastery includes a mosaic floor that contains a verse from Deuteronomy 28:6 in Greek, which reads, \u201cBlessed are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out.\u201d The site was uncovered while work was being done to develop a new neighborhood north of the city. Along with the monastery, a wine press was discovered with a mosaic floor as well, along with imported wares, coins, and vessels made of glass and metal. An earlier layer of the find dates some 600 years earlier, around the 1st century BC. Over 10 buildings were discovered during the excavation.<\/p>\n

Mark Avrahami, Head of Artistic Conservation at IAA, called the site \u201cone of the most unique ever found in Israel.\u201d The mosaic will be taken to IAA\u2019s mosaic workshop for preservation efforts. \u201cTransferring mosaics is a complex process that requires great skill and precision. Soon, the ancient mosaic will be moved to the Israel Antiquities Authority’s mosaic workshop for preservation before being displayed in the city,\u201d said Avrahami. After preservation, the mosaic will be taken to an open area where the public will be able to view it. Yaacov Kvint, Director of the Israel Land Authority, noted how the discovery of the site during a new development project showed the connection between the past and present. \u201cThe discovery of the monastery during development works for the construction of a new neighborhood highlights the connection between the past and the future, as well as between preservation and development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the monastery and wine press, archaeologists also uncovered evidence of a local pottery industry. The IAA noted the discovery of \u201cdetritus typical of a ceramic factory, garbage pits, misshapen vessels that were flawed in production, and even a number of vessels unique to this site.\u201d The winepress, too, shows a lot of sophistication, with the IAA noting it had been repaired several times and must have required a great deal of financial resources. Svetlana Talis, Director of the Southern Region at the IAA said that, \u201cThe discovery of the site highlights the historical richness of Kiryat Gat and its surroundings, shedding light on the centrality of the region in antiquity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of a 600-year-old Byzantine-era monastery buried near the city of Kiryat Gat. The previously unknown monastery includes a mosaic floor that contains a verse from Deuteronomy 28:6 in Greek, which reads, \u201cBlessed are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out.\u201d The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":12407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[102,7,140,74,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archaeology","category-christian-news","category-church","category-exorcism","category-holy-site"],"yoast_head":"\nByzantine-era Monastery with Bible Inscription Uncovered in Kiryat Gat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Byzantine-era Monastery with Bible Inscription Uncovered in Kiryat Gat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of a 600-year-old Byzantine-era monastery buried near the city of Kiryat Gat. The previously unknown monastery includes a mosaic floor that contains a verse from Deuteronomy 28:6 in Greek, which reads, \u201cBlessed are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out.\u201d The…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christ News Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-13T16:58:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2025\/01\/byzantine-monastary_credit-Israel-Antiquities-Authority-Facebook.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cecilia Buchanan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Byzantine-era Monastery with Bible Inscription Uncovered in Kiryat Gat","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Byzantine-era Monastery with Bible Inscription Uncovered in Kiryat Gat","og_description":"The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of a 600-year-old Byzantine-era monastery buried near the city of Kiryat Gat. The previously unknown monastery includes a mosaic floor that contains a verse from Deuteronomy 28:6 in Greek, which reads, \u201cBlessed are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out.\u201d The…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html","og_site_name":"Christ News Today","article_published_time":"2025-01-13T16:58:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2025\/01\/byzantine-monastary_credit-Israel-Antiquities-Authority-Facebook.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cecilia Buchanan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html","name":"Byzantine-era Monastery with Bible Inscription Uncovered in Kiryat Gat","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2025\/01\/byzantine-monastary_credit-Israel-Antiquities-Authority-Facebook.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-13T16:58:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-13T16:58:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/#\/schema\/person\/f0820942b588b1bdba133d7ca3c8eb6e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2025\/01\/byzantine-monastary_credit-Israel-Antiquities-Authority-Facebook.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/409\/2025\/01\/byzantine-monastary_credit-Israel-Antiquities-Authority-Facebook.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Israel Antiquities Authority \/ Facebook"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2025\/01\/byzantine-era-monastery-with-bible-inscription-uncovered-in-kiryat-gat.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Byzantine-era Monastery with Bible Inscription Uncovered in Kiryat Gat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/","name":"Christ News Today","description":"Christian News From Around the Globe","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/#\/schema\/person\/f0820942b588b1bdba133d7ca3c8eb6e","name":"rdewing","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/author\/rdewing"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/627"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12416,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12413\/revisions\/12416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}