The mosque – the second of its kind, joins another that was uncovered in 2019 in excavations of the Israel Antiquities Authority * The excavations in Rahat – initiated by the Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev, shed light on the beginnings of Islam in the Southern Levant.
A luxurious estate and a rare rural mosque – among the earliest known worldwide (over 1200 years old) were recently discovered in the city of Rahat in the Negev. Large-scale archaeological excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority to facilitate the construction of a new neighborhood in Rahat, underwritten by the Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev, provide graphic details of the gradual transition from Christianity to Islam that took place in the seventh to ninth centuries CE.
The excavations, directed by Oren Shmueli, Dr. Elena Kogan-Zehavi, and Dr. Noe David Michael on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, revealed buildings with Christian and Early Islamic characteristics close to one another. "We uncovered a farmhouse of the Byzantine period that apparently housed Christian farmers and included a fortified tower and rooms with strong walls surrounding a courtyard. On a nearby hilltop, we found estates constructed completely differently; these were built about a hundred years later, in the late seventh to ninth centuries – the Early Islamic period. The estate buildings, apparently built by Muslims, were constructed with lines of rooms next to large, open courtyards. Many of the clay-lined ovens in the rooms and courtyards were probably used for cooking food. The walls of these buildings were relatively thin and apparently supported mudbrick walls that have not survived." An early rural mosque, excavated in the vicinity in 2019 by Shahar Tzur and Dr. Jon Seligman on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the first of its kind, provided proof of the inhabitants' identity.
In the recent, renewed excavations, archaeologists were surprised to discover yet another rural mosque of the seventh – eighth centuries CE. The mosque includes a square room and a wall facing the direction of Mecca (qibla), the holy city of Islam. A niche shaped in a half-circle is located along the center of the wall pointing southwards (mihrab). These unique architectural features show that the building was used as a mosque. The mosque stands alone on the site and could have been used by several dozen Muslim worshippers, most likely local inhabitants, for prayers.
The mosque is about 400 meters south of a luxurious estate building constructed around a central courtyard. It includes halls with stone pavement, some paved with marble, and walls decorated with frescos painted in red and yellow. Remains of fine tableware and glass vessels, some illustrated with drawings of plants and animals, which were revealed in the building, manifest the wealth of its inhabitants.
According to researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority, "The evidence from all of the excavation areas gathered so far: the dwellings, the houses of prayer, the ovens and utensils, sheds light on the beginnings of the historical process that took place in the northern Negev with the introduction of a new religion – the religion of Islam, and new rulership and culture in the region. These were gradually established, inheriting the earlier Byzantine government and the Christian faith that held sway over the land for hundreds of years.
According to the Director-General of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Eli Escusido, "The important largescale excavation in Rahat contributes to our knowledge, and that of the residents of the city of Rahat, who, together with the Authority for Development and Settlement of the Bedouin in the Negev, will be rewarded with the integration of unique finds in the development of the city – the ancient next to the modern – as in the words of King Solomon: "One generation comes and another passes away, and the earth abides forever."