December 2020 – A huge chunk of a massive 1,700-year-old mosaic floor piece has returned home to Israel and will form the centerpiece of a new archaeological center in the central city of Lod, where it was first unearthed over 20 years ago.
As often happens in Israel, during construction of a new road in the city in 1996, workers exposed an area of exquisite Roman mosaic floors dating from the fourth century CE. The finely detailed ceramic work featured artistically crafted ships, fish, birds and animals including lions, tigers and elephants laid out in intricate geometric patterns that archaeologists estimate were part of a luxurious private mansion.
One segment was so spectacular in its artwork and preservation that it was removed from the site and toured the world’s great museums including the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Field Museum in Chicago, the Louvre in Paris, the Altes Museum in Berlin, Waddesdon Manor in England and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg in Russia.
