Israel on Tuesday revealed the ruins of a 1,200-year-old building in the Negev desert, described by the Antiquities Authority as a “luxury property,” the first of its kind in this southern region of the country.

As part of the expansion of the city of Rahat, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a dwelling, made up in part of a marble floor and frescoed walls, but especially of “unique and impressive underground vaults, which are evidence of the owners means. ”, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

“We discovered a very large villa. It has a tower, a water system and several rooms. There were murals,” said Dr. Noah D. Michael, director of excavations for the AIA.

The “first of its kind in the Negev”

“A wealthy landowner may have lived on the property, overlooking farms in the northern Negev,” according to archaeologists, who believe the ruins date to the 8th and 9th centuries, or early Islamic era. “We assume that whoever lived here was a local leader,” added Noah D. Michael.

“This luxurious property” is the “first of its kind in the Negev,” the AIA estimated in a press release, highlighting the presence of a deep cistern and 5.5m vaults below the property’s inner courtyard and 2 .5m high.

“The vaults were carefully built and probably led to other complex underground spaces that have not yet been discovered,” explained the archaeologists in charge of the excavations at this site that will open to the public on Thursday.

In June, the AIA announced that it had unearthed the remains of one of the world’s oldest rural mosques in the same area, also dating back some 1,200 years and witnessing the spread of Islam in the Negev desert. “These sites will be preserved for the public, for tourists and for the city of Rahat to have an archaeological park,” said Noé D. Michael