1,200-year-old mosque uncovered in Rahat
The ruins of a 1,200-year-old rural mosque, one of the earliest in the world, were uncovered in an archaeological dig in the Bedouin city of Rahat.
“A local rural mosque from this early period is a rare find in the Middle East and in the world in general and especially in the area north of Beersheba, in which a similar building has not been found until now,” said Shahar Zur and Dr. Jon Seligman, directors of the excavation on behalf of the Antiquities Authority (IAA).
“From this period, there are large known mosques in Jerusalem and in Mecca, but here is evidence of an ancient house of worship that seems to have been used by farmers living in the area,” they added. “We found the ruins of the open-air mosque, a rectangular building with a ‘mihrab’ [a prayer niche] facing south, in the direction of Mecca. These features are evidence for the purpose for which this building was used many hundreds of years ago.”
A farm from the end of the Byzantine period (500-600 CE) was also uncovered in the excavations, as well as a small settlement from the beginning of the Islamic period (600-700 CE) with remains of buildings that were split into living spaces, open courtyards, storage space and places used for food preparation, including “tabuns” (clay baking ovens, shaped like a truncated cone, with an opening at the bottom from which to stoke the fire).
“These sites were part of the agricultural system that existed in the northern Negev in early times,” explained Zur and Seligman. “The soil was suitable for growing grains and the ground water in perennial streams attracted settlers here who wanted to cultivate the land.
“This is one of the earliest mosques known of from the time of the first arrival of Islam in Israel, after the Arab conquest in 636 CE,” said an expert on the period, Prof. Gideon Avni, from the IAA. “The discovery of the mosque next to an agricultural town between Beersheba and Ashkelon indicates the processes of cultural and religious change, which the country underwent during the transition from the Byzantine period to the early Islamic period.
“The uncovering of the town and the mosque next to it significantly contribute to studies on the history of the land in this stormy period,” he added. “According to historical Islamic sources, the new Muslim government distributed plots of land to its senior officials, including Omar ibn al-Etz, an Arab military commander who took over the land of Israel and Syria.”
The IAA salvage dig, employing Bedouin residents and youth from towns in the area, was carried out in advance of building a new neighborhood in the city.