Must-see: Archaeologists uncover 1,200-year-old mansion in Israel

RAHAT, Israel — Archaeologists in Israel recently found a “luxurious estate” that dates back to the eighth or ninth century, officials announced this week.

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According to The Associated Press, the Israel Antiquities Authority took to Facebook on Tuesday to share photos of the 1,200-year-old mansion in Rahat, a city in the Negev region.

“The archaeologists discovered a building with a central courtyard overlying a unique vaulted complex and a 3-meter-deep rock-hewn water cistern,” the authority captioned the photos, adding that the estate is “the first of its kind uncovered in the Negev.”

The post went on to describe the early Islamic period home as a four-wing villa “with rooms to serve the needs of the residents.”

“In one wing, there was a hall paved with a marble and stone floor and walls decorated with frescoes (wall paintings on damp plaster),” the authority wrote. “The extant small fresco fragments were finely colored in red, yellow, blue and black. Other rooms in the building had plaster floors, and in other rooms, there were large ovens and fragments of delicate decorated glass serving dishes.”

In a statement, excavation directors Oren Shmueli, Elena Kogan-Zehavi and Noé D. Michael said the mansion offered a look at the owners’ prosperous life.

“The luxurious estate and the unique impressive underground vaults are evidence of the owners’ means,” the statement read, according to the post. “Their high status and wealth allowed them to build a luxurious mansion that served as a residence and for entertaining.”

Officials plan to “conserve and exhibit” the findings to the public, the authority said.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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