1,500-Year-Old Byzantine Monastery Discovered in Southern Israel Near Kiryat Gat

During excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) as part of the Israel Land Authority’s development work for the “Karmey Gat North” neighborhood, the largest and most significant Roman and Byzantine-era site in the region was uncovered. The discoveries include a monastery featuring a colorful mosaic floor and a Greek inscription, a sophisticated winepress, and other buildings.

“Blessed are you when you come in and blessed are you when you go out” (Deuteronomy 20:6). This is what was written on a colorful monastery floor uncovered in a large Israel Antiquities Authority excavation, conducted prior to establishing a new neighborhood north of the modern city of Kiryat Gat, at the initiative of the Israel Lands Authority. The excavation revealed the remains of at least ten buildings, including the monastery, the winepress and a large warehouse building. The monastery is dated to the Byzantine period (5th-6th centuries CE), and it is part of an ancient site that already existed during the Roman period and continued for approximately 600 years.

The monastery and surrounding area yielded a wealth of artifacts, including imported goods, coins, marble fragments, and metal and glass vessels, indicating a prosperous and important community. The monastery’s mosaic floor is decorated with crosses, lions, doves, an amphora, flowers, and geometric patterns. A central Greek inscription reads, “Blessed are you when you come in, and blessed are you when you go out” (Deuteronomy 28:6). The use of tiny mosaic stones within the geometric patterns emphasizes the cross-shaped designs.

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In addition to the monastery, a very sophisticated wine press was also uncovered, which was built and repaired several times over the years. The mosaic flooring of the fermentation rooms and the collecting vat integrated blue and white stones. In the plastered surfaces of the collecting vats you can see remnants of red paint. The northern collecting vat floor is built of slabs, upon some of which can be still be seen Greek letters, which served as masonry marks for the winepress builders. All of these features indicate that building and developing this winery involved significant financial resources, time, and a range of professional work and effort.

“The early settlement is sited on a central road junction connecting the mountain region to the coastal plain. It apparently served the area’s smaller settlements as well as travelers passing by,” said Shira Lifshitz and Maayan Margulis, excavation managers on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “This is the largest and most significant Roman and Byzantine period site uncovered in this area. The findings indicate a succession of settlement starting from the early Roman period (1st century CE) and through until the end of the Byzantine period (end of the 6th century CE).” The Roman period settlement remains are more limited, but even they display richness in the variety and quality of the finds.”

In the Byzantine period one can see the settlement’s significant expansion, which included the construction of the monastery and the winepress. In addition, there is much evidence of local pottery production, such as detritus typical of a ceramic factory, garbage pits, misshapen vessels that were flawed in production, and even a number of vessels unique to this site.